I Can't Believe It's Not Spencer?
by MatildaHummingbird
Summary: SHASSIE! When a body is found that has a striking resemblance to Shawn, Detective Carlton Lassiter is a little more then disturbed. Not because of the victim's looks but because of the new way the case starts to makes him see Shawn - romantically. DONE!
1. Totally Dead

**A/N: **Okay….So I know I've already got two fics going, but it could be awhile. I have scatter brain right now, and right now my scatter brain is telling me to write this fic instead. So I am! This is the first chapter of a fic I mentioned in my last post – A fic called "**Shassie Summaries**." Give it a quick read and you'll see what I mean when I say scatter brain. (Damn plot bunnies!) So as much as I'm having fun writing **Dream Ring** and **Lassie Hates Ramen Noodles**, both those fics are on hiatus right now as I'm determined to finish this one. It sucks I know but I think I'm doing better with this one anyway! I even made a prologue for this one.

Alright, there's my senseless two sense before the start of a fic so without further ado ONWARD I SAY!

~Matilda

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Psych, never have, never will, and hopefully do somewhere off in an Alternate Universe. I do however own the two OCs in the prologue…but their role is pretty trivial and they won't be popping up too much.

**I Can't Believe It's Not…Spencer?**

**Prologue:**

Aaron had found the perfect place; the warehouse on Clydedale Avenue was; old, abandoned, and private. Perfect for him and his girlfriend Tanya to get together without her parents knowing – now if only he could get Tanya to agree.

"This place is so gross!" Tanya argued, she truly hated it and it could be seen in the way she looked around.

The warehouse was empty, and in shambles it was completely hallow say for a few pillars, a couple ledges up in the rafters, and somewhere off in the back a dripping pipe could be heard.

_Drip, drip, drip, drip,_

"You can't tell me this place isn't gross." Tanya insisted. "Aaron I want to go home."

Aaron sighed. "Come on babe, its perfect. No one will ever know we come here – we can be alone all the time now, just like you wanted." Aaron leaned in to give his girl friend kiss.

"This is unsanitary." Tanya shook her head and dodged Aaron's lips. "Seriously, can't we just get a motel room or something?"

"What?" Aaron said. "No, I have no money after I lost my job."

"A year ago." Tanya huffed. "You haven't been looking for a new one since." It was clearly an issue between the two, and immediately Aaron went on the defensive.

"I have been looking!" Aaron insisted "I have been I swear! It's just so hard in this economy, no one is hiring."

It was an all out brawl then, and the two lovers were yelling at each other at the top of their lungs. They were so caught up in their trivial argument that they didn't notice the sound of something shifting up in the rafters.

"You're lazy Aaron!"

"I'm looking for a damn job! Alright, I'm sorry it's not good enough for you but I am dammit!"

"You're such a liar!" Tanya went on. "A lazy LIAR!" Tanya screamed the last part of her accusation, and finally the shifting sound in the rafters grew louder. A high pitched screeched sounded off followed by a loud SNAP, and something fell. Landing right on Aaron and knocking him over. Tanya's screamed words just turned into just a regular scream then – and she kept screaming.

Aaron saw stars – what the hell just fell on him? It was heavy, stiff, and wet. Aaron tried to push whatever it was off of him, but it was taking more effort than he thought it would and Tanya's screaming wasn't helping. "Stop!" Aaron insisted "Tanya stop screaming!" Aaron gave a grunt, followed by a 'eeerrraarg' sound as he finally managed to lift the weight off of him. Finally able to move, Aaron turned and finally saw what Tanya was seeing. The body was male, and covered in blood, blood that was still fresh, blood that was now stained into Aaron's clothing. Aaron realized this and like Tanya he screamed. The screaming eventually led into silent shock, and finally Aaron mustered enough common sense to call the police.

**End Prologue**

**Chpt 1: Totally Dead**

The SBPD were on scene immediately, the warehouse was closed off with police tape, and uniforms were scattered. Some uniforms were collecting evidence, some were holding a perimeter forbidding civilians to try and take a peek…As for the body? It was where Aaron had left it and covered with a sheet, other than adding the sheet -the police were avoiding it like the plague. It was undeniable that a strange feel of uncertainty was in the air surrounding the scene.

"I don't understand why we were called to this." Detective Carlton Lassiter grumbled mostly to himself as he pulled up to the warehouse. His partner Juliet O'Hara was sitting beside him and could only offer a shrug.

"Why not?" Juliet insisted. "Not much has been happening lately, something was bound to come up sooner or later."

Lassiter didn't seem to agree, but none the less he grabbed the necessary tools and exited his cruiser with O'Hara close on his heels. "Clayton!" Lassiter called over the first officer he recognized. "What's the story?"

Normally when asking the story, the explanation expected was formal. 'Victim was shot three times in the chest, male, 21, Caucasian.' – That's the type of explanation Lassiter was going for, so when Officer Clayton fumbled on his words and sounded almost like he might cry Lassiter and O'Hara exchanged confused looks.

"Stabbed – throat, we don't know…." Those were the only words Clayton could mumble. Police usually acted like this when the victim was a team member.

"One of our guys?" Juliet asked quietly. Lassiter didn't know. Lassiter decided then to seek out the body to see for himself.

"Let's get this over with." Lassiter insisted. "If it is one of our guys I want their families contacted immediately."

Upon stepping into the warehouse, Lassiter immediately saw McNabb who was standing by. He wasn't standing too close and Lassiter could see why, McNabb was barely holding it together.

"McNabb?" Juliet's voice was soft when she went over to officer. "Oh god it is one of our guys isn't it?" Juliet looked more worried then. "Who – when?" Only McNabb couldn't answer her. This left Lassiter with the task of moving over to the body and lifting the white sheet off of it.

Juliet turned to ask Lassiter who the victim was, she was expecting Lassiter to stand up and say Doyle, McLaren, or even Craveiro – none of these were the case.

Lassiter held the white sheet in his hand, and didn't notice that he was clutching onto it to the point his knuckles were white. Blood – there was so much blood….even the sheet was stained…Lassiter couldn't speak, he could only look down at Shawn Spencer's lifeless form.

"No…." Lassiter didn't know what was happening to him, his chest was clenching and his heat rate slowed considerably. He could vaguely hear O'Hara come up behind him and share in her own despair.

"Oh god Shawn…."

"Get the camera." Lassiter managed to get out. He dropped the sheet, but still shaking he finally stood. He turned to face Juliet who was still awestruck. "The camera!" Lassiter yelled. He didn't mean to yell but that's how it came out, Juliet did not look pleased. Lassiter wasn't trying to sound insensitive he was just trying to stay calm, and it didn't help that he could feel all his logic start to chip away, and Lassiter was sloppily trying to put it back together.

Spencer was dead, that was it. No big deal. Spencer had a habit of getting into trouble, and Lassiter always knew that someday he wouldn't get out of it.

_Knew or feared?_

Lassiter didn't appreciate his conscience trying to argue with him, Spencer was careless – he was always careless. It was his own damn fault. Lassiter took a long breathe – yes he was calm now, he could do this. Detective Carlton Lassiter was more than capable of investigating the murder of Shawn Spencer. To prove it to himself, Lassiter quickly took the camera out of O'Hara's shaking hands when she finally returned and stepping over to Spencer's body was the first to snap a picture. The flash illuminated Spencer's face and Lassiter could see that the psychic's eyes were still open. Open and scared. Lassiter could see it clearly in his head then, Shawn – maybe running, or maybe cornered -looking up at his killer and about to plea just as the knife came down to his neck.

The image was so clear in the detective's mind that Lassiter lowered the camera, and promptly removed himself from the scene where he could become ill- violently. Another long breathe and Lassiter had to blink back the tears that threatened to follow his regurgitation, god help him he couldn't do this. "O Hara!" He hollered, he had to try to regain some composure, "Take more pictures, I'll do the rest." By the rest he meant calling the family.

"Henry Spencer." Henry answered his phone sounding distracted, and Lassiter could hear the faint sound of something sizzling in the background Henry was cooking.

"Detective Lassiter." Lassiter said then, and he braced himself.

"Carlton." Henry greeted, "What's he done now? You know what don't tell me, just give him the phone and I'll be more than happy to yell at him for you."

"Uh…" Oh god Lassiter couldn't get the words out. "He hasn't done…anything…Mr. Spencer…"

"When have you ever called me Mr. Spencer?" Henry's tone changed and he knew something was wrong. "Carlton?" Henry's voice was stern. "Carlton what's happening – where's my son?"

"There was a body found in an old Clydedale Avenue warehouse, it's…It is Shawn." Lassiter spilled it out in one quick ramble, though it wasn't quick enough that he had to repeat himself. Henry heard him loud and clear.

"Shut up." Henry said.

"I – it's the truth." Lassiter insisted. "I wouldn't lie about this…"

"Shut up!" Henry cut him off. "Shut up and do your job! Find out who, find out why, and do it now!"

"There's not a chance you're willing to help is there?" Lassiter had no idea why he was asking, but luckily Henry's response was to promptly hang up on the detective. Lassiter sighed – well Henry was certainly taking 'the call' pretty damn well now wasn't he? Lassiter in turn fought down another bout of sickness and began to dial for Gust.

Gus was coincidentally in the psych office when his phone started ringing, there was a strap over his shoulder and he was handling a plastic guitar like it was a real guitar, he was moving along with the music, getting really into it, and was hitting every colored button in perfect timing along with the song that was blaring from the office's television. For some reason Gus had a long purple scarf tied around his head but he didn't seem to mind as he was too busy playing the game. The word's of Motely Crue's Home Sweet Home being were being screeched out as they rolled across the top of the screen.

"IM ON MY WAY, IM ON MYYY WAAAY HOME SWEET HOOOOME, IM ON AWAYYYY JUST SET ME FREEEEE- GUS GET YOUR PHOOOOOOONE."

The game was paused and Gus was quick to answer his phone. "Detective Lassiter." Gus greeted immediately, and as it played out with Henry, Lassiter had trouble getting out the news. However Gus didn't respond the same way, instead Gus quirked a brow lowered the phone to his chest.

"Lassiter thinks you're dead."

"But I'm right here." Shawn Spencer looked to the cell phone clutched in Gus' hand and motioned for Gus to hand it to him. Gus obliged and Shawn dropped the game mic and held the phone to his ear.

"Lassie, are you screwing with us? Because I have to say if that's your idea of a practical joke I am greatly ashamed of you! What are you thinking? I mean you could've at least made sure I wasn't sitting right next to Gus before you called him. I demand to know who put you up to this? Who Lassie? Are you having lunch with Carrot Top again? What did I tell you about fraternizing with outdated comedians?"

"I…." Lassiter didn't sound too good. Shawn caught onto this but didn't think too much of it.

"No excuses." Shawn went on. "You're grounded Lassie. Now go to your room." Shawn kept a perfectly straight face, but the comedic effect was lost when instead of retaliating with something snappy and cruel Lassiter just hung up.

"It's not him!" Lassiter called out after he put his phone away, and like magic the detective was back on top of his game. He turned to O'Hara who looked so damn happy to hear that. "I just got him on the phone, he's fine now O'Hara hand me those gloves." The relief that Shawn wasn't dead had Lassiter feeling…..He honestly didn't know, happy? Ecstatic? Ineffable was the word he ended on and decided to think about it later.

"Right away!" Juliet never sounded so happy to be examining a dead body. Lassiter wouldn't say anything on that matter because truthfully he was still a little uncomfortable, how could two people look so much alike? Lassiter shook his head and set to work. Shawn Spencer wasn't dead. Lassiter's world was back to normal.

_Thank god!_

"Huh…" Shawn passed the phone back to Gus. "He must've really thought I was a dead man – cool." Of course it wasn't THAT cool, what could've possibly happened to have Lassiter think that? There was now also the issue of Lassiter being as good a cop as his reputation said he was, which gave Shawn no doubt his dad had been the first one called. It was an issue which that was hopefully easily fixed and ridden of.

Shawn grabbed for his own phone and dialed his dad's number – repeatedly. A good 4 tries and Shawn knew that his dad wasn't going to answer.

"Dammit." Shawn pouted. "Gus we have to go to my dad's."

"What if he's not home?" Gus said. "Then what?"

"No idea, but we're going – so let's turn off the game, and get going, drop your guitar, and…actually no keep the headband on." Shawn could only grin when Gus took the headband off anyway and followed Shawn out the door.

Henry was in a deep state of denial, his son was dead. No he wasn't. Shawn wasn't dead, not dead at all. Shawn was a lot of things; he was annoying, immature, and overly exuberant – but dead? Nope. He didn't need to answer his phone the next four times it rang because he knew it was Shawn calling him to ask something stupid. Something so stupid that Henry would happily refuse to give his son the satisfaction- not even a little.

"Dad!"

Henry started to tear up then, oh god Shawn was dead and he could hear his voice. It was so clear. Why was this happening to him?

"Dad!"

Oh god Shawn's voice was getting louder, Henry knew it, he was in such a deep state of shock that he was having a heart attack. Shawn was coming to take him to the other side Henry just knew it. Henry leaned back in his chair and squeezed his eyes shut.

Shawn came into the living room after he failed to find his dad in the kitchen and blinked at the site he found his dad in. Sitting perfectly still and clutching the armrest like he was waiting for something.

"Mr. Spencer?" Gus tried quietly.

"Gus?" Henry opened his eyes.

"Dad?" Shawn tried again. Henry blinked.

"Shawn?"

"Dad?"

"Mr. Spencer?"

"Gus?"

"Gus?" Shawn repeated.

"Shawn?" Gus answered.

"Shawn?" Henry repeated.

"Dad?"

"Mr. Spencer?"

…This went on for at least another minute before Shawn didn't think it was funny anymore.

"OKAY!" Shawn raised both of his hands into the air to stop the name train. "We're done it's over! No more! Finito! Europe's Final Countdown is over and not to be heard again this year!...Alright. Dad."

Henry was up, and before Shawn knew what was happening, Henry was hugging his son until it hurt.

Gus awkwardly scratched the back of his head, and pretended to be interested in something else.

"You're hurting me…." Shawn squeaked out. Henry's only response was to loosen his grip just slightly but he didn't let Shawn go.

"You're not dead." Henry sounded so SO happy. "Carlton was wrong…"

"Very wrong." Shawn happily added. Henry then let Shawn go as his relief turned into anger.

"Carlton was wrong! That son of a bitch called me before he got a proper I.D on his body! How the hell do you miss a step like that! ? If I was his superior I'd be firing his ass right now!"

Shawn on behalf of Lassiter who could not at that moment defend himself, just changed the subject. "Dead body?" Shawn repeated. "As in – dead in not a natural way? There's a case?" Shawn looked like he was getting excited and turned to Gus. "Gus there's a case!"

"We weren't called." Gus said. "We're normally called, let's just skip this one – it doesn't sound like a fun one." Honestly though, Gus put two and two together on his own, he wasn't exactly keen on looking at a dead body who looked like his friend. Not that Shawn really understood that. Shawn was too busy hopping up and down on one foot.

"Case – there's a case, aw man and we're sitting here wasting time with my dad's house. We suck Gus, we gotta go – like now." Shawn turned to his dad. "Dad we have to go."

Henry was still fuming at Lassiter's lack of protocol. "What? Go? You're leaving?"

"Yeah – leaving." Shawn piped. "To get us a case!" Shawn was half way out the door. "Gus you coming?"

"I guess so." Gus digressed, he supposed if the body wasn't actually Shawn then he'd be okay and he again followed Shawn out the door.

"Bye dad!" Shawn quipped, but before he and Gus got too far from Henry's house Shawn turned around and popped his head back into the door. "Hey dad quick question-who's got two thumbs, and is totally not dead?" Shawn gave it a second before he gestured to himself with both of his thumbs. "This guy!"

.


	2. Determined

**A/N: **I must be doing something right with this fic. This is my first fic where I've gotten more than two reviews after the first chapter- in one day. So personally? I'm psyched! Like really psyched about that! I even did my dance of joy. So psyched! I mean -who wouldn't be? SIX REVIEWS! I fully admit to being a shameless review whore…Only now that I've admitted it – karma shall strike me and it'll be back to constant story alerts for me. Not that I mind, story alerts are just as awesome – it means that someone likes my fic enough that they want to be notified upon any updates. I love getting story alert messages just as much as I love reviews….Reviews just a little more though hehe.

Okay…my happy rant is over now sorry for the annoyance! As thanks for reading here's chapter 2!

Cheers!

~Matilda

P.S

Shassie fans rejoice, we get a little juicy in this chapter!

**Determined**

Totally not dead was the answer Lassiter was truly happy about, what he wasn't happy about was the fact that he still had a dead body on his hands. So far nothing had had come up, the DNA swab was still looking for a name to match the face, and the entire neighborhood was being searched. Lassiter had uniforms going door to door with a copy of the victim's picture asking citizens if they had any idea who the man was.

"How is it this difficult to find a positive I.D on a body?" Lassiter turned in his chair back to O'Hara who had been stepping into the station carrying with her a folder.

"Give it time." She encouraged. "We'll figure it out." O'Hara then promptly dropped the folder on Lassiter's desk. "Enhanced photos of the crime scene and the victim, I think we should ask Shawn to take a look."

"No." Lassiter didn't make it debatable. "He wasn't called in, and I'm personally okay with that. Besides I think after seeing the victim he'd just say it was cool and make a parent trap reference. I really don't need the distraction."

"Not even a tiny look?" O'Hara said. "He doesn't have to be brought fully on, but truthfully I'm a little tired of continuously running into a brick wall. I also think it'd be better if the photos were looked over by someone who wasn't emotionally distracted by the victim's genetic makeup."

She had a valid point, but Lassiter still didn't want to budge. "We'll be okay, O'Hara – things will begin running smoother once we get an I.D on the victim. Then we can start retracing his steps."

"Alright." Juliet gave in."You're right, I'm sorry." She then turned to grab her bag and leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Carlton it's after 10, I need sleep. I will be back here first thing in the morning." Juliet smiled and this time actually left. She was halfway across the parking lot before she was on her phone dialing for Shawn.

"He doesn't want you on the case." She sounded apologetic – but also nonchalant. "Are you surprised?"

"Course not." Shawn quipped. "Though I have to ask – the body really looks _that_ much like me?"

"It's scary." Juliet admitted. "We actually thought…That you…Oh it wasn't fun at all let me just leave it at that." There was a long pause of silence as Juliet grabbed for her keys to unlock her car. "You're smiling right now aren't you?"

"So very much so." Shawn admitted, and he swore he could hear Juliet rolling her eyes. "Okay." Shawn moved on. "So Gus and I are technically 'not' on the case."

"Nope." Juliet confirmed. "If you think you can change Carlton's mind, be my guest. I however am going home."

"You're still at the station?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah, Carlton's in full work mode – almost made me feel guilty to leave. It's unsurprising that he'll probably be in the same shirt and tie when I head in tomorrow."

"Awesome, so just Lassie and I, one on one tonight – this is beautiful." Shawn sounded delighted.

"Shawn where are you?" Juliet stopped and started looking around the parking lot cautiously.

"Walking." Shawn answered. "Gus was tired so I let him go home."

"Shawn!" Juliet exclaimed. "You're wandering around by yourself? That's never a good idea."

"So protective." Shawn teased a bit. "No worries though, I'm about 2 blocks away from the station, you just head on home and I'll cozy up to Lassie for a ride."

"Okay." Juliet reluctantly agreed to leave Shawn be, but none the less she encouraged the psychic to text her when he got home later on. "Not a second later." She ordered.

"Yes mother dear."

They hung up and Juliet was on route home just as Shawn was coming up the police station's steps and slipping in through the main doors.

Lassiter was still at his desk, only he wasn't going over paper work, he was getting ready to go home to. An all nighter had been his initial plan but upon opening the folder to view the pictures, and Lassiter felt ill again. The first photo was of the victim's face.

_Screw it, too tired._

Lassiter was calling it a day, slipping into his jacket and grabbing his brief case. He was just heading out the door. Only stopping when he bumped into Spencer who was on his way in.

"No cases today Spencer, I'm going home now."

Spencer raised a confused brow. "No cases – really? Not even since the body earlier?"

"You're not on this one Spencer, let it go." Again Lassiter was glad about that; it was bad enough the victim was practically the psychic's clone.

"Yeah okay I'm not on it – but I'd like to be." Shawn insisted. "Jules gave me to the guy's description and with all due respect – I think it's kind of cool. I want to see!"

Lassiter shook his head. "Spencer – no, absolutely not." He winced when he looked at Shawn then, because it wasn't Shawn he was looking at suddenly – it was a dead body that could be Shawn's. Lifeless eyes, limb arms, mouth agape, and a stab wound right in the middle of his neck.

"Lassie – Lassie?" It took a couple tries, but Shawn's voice brought Lassiter back down to earth, and he lowered his head.

"I have to go Spencer." Lassiter pushed pass Shawn quickly, unable to breathe in that exact moment. Shawn watched him leave, the 'psychic' feeling almost sad that the detective was ditching him. Shawn looked to McNabb who had been watching from nearby.

"What do you think that was about?" Shawn asked, and the young cop could only offer a small shrug. Shawn refusing to give up then turned and went after the detective.

"Lassie!" Shawn stopped him before he reached his car. "Can I at least see the photos?"

"No!" Lassiter put his foot down. "For god's sake Spencer just go home."

_Go to where I don't have to look at you._

"Alright." Shawn gave up. "I'm going." He started to walk away, and that's when Lassiter noticed a lack of Gus and a lack of motorcycle nearby.

"Spencer- how the hell did you get here?" Lassiter called after him.

"Walked." Shawn answered. "I'm a grown man, its cool Lassie."

No, no it wasn't cool. Lassiter hated to think the worst, but he had this inkling fear that _maybe_ Shawn was the killer's intent and that the poor victim was just a standby. Suddenly Lassiter envisioned a mad man in the shadows waiting to get Shawn alone. The image made Lassiter grit his teeth and go against his better judgment. "Spencer – get in the damn car."

Shawn turned, and smiled. "You sure?" He used a teasing tone – almost as if he had been planning this. "I don't want to impose."

"Car. Now." Lassiter used his cop voice, a voice Shawn always secretly thought was sexy – and he always endlessly badgered the detective just to hear it when he could.

"Done and done." Shawn was in the car in record timing, and waited for Lassiter to be driving before he snatched the folder out from his brief case.

"Spencer what the hell are you doing?"

"Peeking." Shawn insisted. He moved to open the folder, and the first picture he held up being of the victim's face. Shawn looked long and hard at it. "Eh…" Shawn shrugged. "I don't see it." Truthfully he did, but again he just felt like bugging the poor detective. He wasn't as bothered by the victim's appearance as much as everyone else was.

"What do you mean you don't see it?" Lassiter was more concerned with keeping his eyes on the road then he was looking at Spencer. "You could've been his twin for pete's sake!"

"I'm an only child." Shawn reminded the detective, Lassiter moved to say something but Shawn quickly cut him off. "Gus doesn't count."

Lassiter let that topic drop, but had to remind Shawn point blank. "You're still not on this case."

"Oh we'll just see about that." Shawn challenged, and without Lassiter knowing, he flipped through all of the photos taking them into memory. He recognized the area as Clydedale and made a mental note to poke around there tomorrow.

"Spencer I'm serious – no." Lassiter could see in his peripheral vision what Shawn was doing and he practically growled at the other man.

"Just hear me out." Shawn pleaded, and at that point Lassiter had pulled up to Shawn's apartment and was now in the process of trying to get him out of the car.

"I think you're looking in the wrong area." Shawn insisted. "It's a warehouse isn't it? Who willingly goes into a warehouse?"

"Don't you think I've already thought of that?" Lassiter argued. "But until we get an I.D on the body, this area is all we have."

"Okay…" Shawn agreed. "Just making sure… Now I'll be taking these photos and I'll be seeing you in the morning." Shawn grinned and didn't release the photos. He didn't really need them, he just really felt like bugging.

"The hell you will!" Lassiter snapped, and without really thinking Lassiter made a nose dive for the folder. Shawn had little to no time to react to the sudden assault but he did manage to hold the folder up and over his head. Much to Lassiter's dismay. "Give me that folder Spencer!"

"Make me!" Shawn quipped, and he was leaning back wards on his side looking for the door handle with his other hand. Lassiter had released himself from his seat belt and was now hovering over Shawn trying to get to the folder. The car was cramped and Shawn had a hard time vending off the detective without the use of his hands. He continued to fumble for the door handle while leaning lower and lower towards the car door, his other arm stretching in all different directions to keep the folder from being grabbed.

"Give me the damn folder Spencer!" Lassiter was getting frustrated, and Shawn continued to struggle from under him. It was a tad sickening - but in the back of the detective's mind he couldn't help but notice how easy it was to get Shawn under him. The friction of their bodies moving against each other was just a little more than distracting. Lassiter tried not to think too much of it – thinking was bad. Finally after a short and pointless struggle Lassiter managed to grab Shawn's wrist. Unfortunately his timing was off. Just as the folder was in the detective's reach, Shawn had found the door handle. It all happened it seconds then- the door flew open and both Shawn and Lassiter were falling out of the car in a tumble. Shawn landed on his back, and Lassiter landed right on top of him. The two men were breathing heavily.

"Permission to say that was fun?" Shawn huffed out, and that brought Lassiter's attention to Shawn's face – they were uncomfortably close.

"Absolutely not." Lassiter grumbled, and he had to wonder why he had yet to bother lifting himself off the younger man.

"So much fun!" Shawn challenged. "I mean – if we were naked, I'd totally be lighting a cigarette right now."

The word naked brought a peculiar image into Lassiter's head, the detective could feel himself turning red – and getting hot. He was officially disturbed. "I'm getting up now." Why he had to announce that? He had no idea. Before he could move though Shawn was gently pushing the folder against his chest.

"I believe this is yours." Shawn said. Lassiter looked down with the fullest attention of simply giving a sarcastic 'thank you', but instead his words got mumbled when his lips bumped into Shawn's.

It was pure accident, Lassiter did _not_ mean for that to happen, at all – he fully intended to pull away and curse profusely. Only before he had a chance something odd happened. Shawn was adding pressure to their predicament and soon what was just an accident was turning into Spencer kissing him. It didn't last too long, and when Shawn pulled away Lassiter almost lost it.

"Spencer what the hell? !" Lassiter was getting up now, for real this time.

"Lassie…" Lassiter had never heard that tone in Shawn's voice before, Spencer was breathless. "Lassie I-"

Whatever he was going to say was forgotten; this time Lassiter was kissing Spencer – roughly. The folder slipped out from between them the contents scattering as it fell carelessly to the ground. Rough hands were cradling the psychic's head, and the kissing progressed from exploratory to more urgent. Shawn's arms were up and locking around the detective's back.

Shawn's lips were….Oh Lassiter didn't have words, he didn't even know what words were in that exact moment. The psychic moved in perfect rhythm with him, applying just as much pressure, and releasing the most irresistible keening noises. Lassiter was on auto pilot, his hands eventually moved to travel down Shawn's sides. Shawn's sides he discovered were sensitive, when the hem of Shawn's shirt rode up and Lassiter's hands came into contact with bare skin, Shawn moaned, and shivered against Lassiter's lips, his hips arching suggestively against Lassiter's. Lassiter's body clenched and he clutched onto the psychic's sides even harder, letting his nails dig into the skin just a little.

Shawn had turned into jelly; Lassie was a great kisser – who knew? At first Shawn thought nothing of kissing the detective. Yes – it was extremely weird, and he honestly expected to just have Lassie yell at him before Shawn just laughed it off. Not the case. A minute had barely passed and what was just innocent badgering had morphed into something more primal. Shawn's body moved on its own accord, pressing up against the detective wantonly, every inch of his body was responding to the detectives touch. There wasn't a question in his mind; Shawn just knew he needed more. For a brief second, Lassiter's mouth hovered over his just enough for Shawn to get out one strained word.

"Lassie…"

That one strained word was enough though, Lassiter came crashing back down to earth. He took it all in; the ground beneath them, the car door still ajar, photos lying helplessly in a pile to their side, Shawn's face completely flushed, his sides still warm under Lassiter's grip.

"Lassie?" This time when Shawn said Lassiter's name, he sounded unsure. Lassiter looked Shawn's face over again and realized what he had just been doing – with Spencer.

"Lassie?" Shawn tried again. Now Lassiter was really up, leaving Shawn on the ground as he stood. Shawn prepped himself up onto his forearms as Lassiter cursed violently and progressed to scoop up the folder and the pictures.

"Shit, god dammit, sunava stupid bitch!"

"Lassie – calm down." Shawn tried, and soon Shawn was on his feet too brushing himself off. "It couldn't have been that bad."

"You calm down!" Lassiter yelled. The detective was freaking right out. He was desperately trying to get the last few minutes out of his short term memory.

"Lassie – shit." Shawn swore. "Its fine, we'll just forget about it okay? Relax."

"Don't tell me what to do Spencer!" Lassiter was right in Shawn's face then. "You are to stay far – FAR away from the station during this case – clear?" Lassiter's face was contorted just a little, and if it had been a different situation Shawn would've been laughing his ass off.

"Clear." Shawn confirmed, though in his mind he was totally crossing his fingers.

_Lassie's over thinking this, waaay too much. _

Shawn was comfortable in his sexuality, he liked girls – he liked guys. That's always how he's been; Lassiter it seemed wasn't comfortable at all. Despite the fact Shawn's feelings were hurt, he sympathized with the detective.

_Adult closet cases are always the most nerve racking._

Shawn remembered the last time he had spent time with an adult closet case. The guy was a good kisser and Shawn had really liked him, but sadly he refused to admit to being anything other than straight. Shawn was determined to help the poor sap out, but instead the poor sap had introduced Shawn's face to his fist before running off to join the nearest congregation. Shawn smirked at the memory.

"That face." Lassiter stopped at the expression. "What was that face for?"

"Oh nothing." Shawn played it off- That was a story Lassiter didn't need to hear. "Just take your folder and go, the sooner you finish this case the sooner things can start returning to normal. I like normal Lassie – how about you?"

"Normal." Lassiter nodded curtly. "Normal is good. Okay so we agree. Normal." Lassiter took a breathe, he felt bad for yelling but honestly he couldn't make sense of himself at the moment. He needed to talk to somebody – anybody….Anybody but Spencer.

"I'm Leaving now." Lassiter huffed, and he left for his car. Shawn just crossed his arms and watched Lassiter leave. The smirk had returned to Shawn's face, and the 'psychic' was now determined to get to the bottom of this case. Reaching for his phone, Shawn let himself into his apartment as he dialed Gus.

"Dude I know it's late, but you have to pick me up tomorrow and take me to Clyedale Avenue. You and I are starting our own investigation."

Shawn's plan was to get as involved in the case as he could, proving to Lassiter once and for all that he wasn't all jokes. Mostly jokes, but Shawn had a more serious side to him that not many people say for Gus were really familiar with. These bouts of seriousness never lasted too long, always passing when Shawn met a specific goal. This goal? Finding his doppelganger's killer before Lassie. Why was he so suddenly determined to do this? Well Lassiter's reaction to what had just happened had Shawn feeling mostly hurt – but also angry. Yes. Shawn was angry, and he planned on venting out his anger in the only way he knew how, by screwing around in police work.

Lassiter was oblivious to this more serious side of Spencer that he unintentionally unleashed. He was too busy focusing on the road trying not to crash. Lord help him he was so flustered, a quick glance in the rear view mirror and he was still red in the face.

"Shit shit shit shit…"

The scene kept replaying in his mind, and Lassiter would not – could not, let it get the better of him. He was on a case, and he was going to finish it. _Without_ Spencer. That was it. No arguments. After about 20 minutes of driving Lassiter finally found his way back to his house, but he didn't get out of his car right away. Instead he sat there in silence for a few minutes taking deep breathes.

"Hate…my life.." Lassiter cursed, and he pressed his head against his steering wheel letting the horn drown his train of thought, it worked – a little. Not enough though. As soon as Lassiter lifted his head he could see Shawn's face in his head again. Only it wasn't Shawn – it was the victim, and the victim wasn't completely dead, he was laughing at the detective through lifeless eyes. Lassiter shook his head to banish the image. "Good god I'm going crazy…"

Sigh. Crazy or not Lassiter still had a case. Exiting his car; Lassiter made for his house, determined to get some form of rest that night. Despite Spencer and despite everything that happened in the last 10 hours.


	3. Platforms

**A/N: **I like this chapter, no idea why. What about you? Love it? Hate it? There's the review button! Let me know!

~Matilda

**Platforms**

Clyedale Avenue was a sketchy neighborhood, and though Shawn seemed to be perfectly fine poking his nose around, Gus was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

"Shawn I hate this." Gus wasn't the type to hide his feelings; Shawn regarded his friend with a small apologetic shrug and continued on his way.

"We're close." Shawn promised. "We only need to check out one building."

"I know." Gus argued. "But the police have already searched the place from top to bottom – what makes you think you can find something they can't?"

Shawn gave a loud "Uh – excuse me? Who have you been friends with the in the last forever and ah half? Seriously Gus, I got this."

Gus glowered; Shawn had been like this all morning – edgy if not a bit over bearing. He had to wonder what the hell happened last night to make Shawn so….so….well so much like his father. Gus watched every determined stride Shawn made for the warehouses and sighed. It was going to be like this for a while wasn't it? Ugh. He hoped not.

"Okay Shawn, you're right I'm sorry. Let's just do this." To keep from a potential argument Gus surrendered.

"Thank you." Shawn smiled, though the smile didn't completely reach his eyes. "Alright, this is the one." Shawn pointed out the building he saw in the photos from the night before – it just had to be the most run down edifice in the area now didn't it?

"Not a bad place to kill someone." Gus mused. "No one in their right mind would come walking through here."

"Exactly." Said Shawn, at this point they were at the entrance that was still blocked off by police tape. Normally Shawn would just step over the yellow tape – but today he was holding a grudge and without a second thought tore the tape down and started wrinkling it into a ball.

"The hell are you doing? !" Gus demanded. "Shawn, have you completely lost your mind?"

"In most respects of the term." Shawn answered, and he slipped inside. Gus took a cautious look around before heading inside too. "This place…" Shawn continued. "This place is a lot bigger than I thought." Shawn moved first straight to the middle of the ware house and did a full 360 taking in every detail he could. He saw the rafters way up high supporting a few ledges, and he saw every cracked window, one of them sporting an empty bird's nests.

"The victim was found here," Shawn pointed out to where the white outline was still stuck to the ground. "-and the entrance is back over there." Shawn pointed to the door. "No tread marks, no trail of dried blood – from what I heard there was a good amount of blood too."

"This isn't the crime scene." Gus ended there. "We're in the wrong place."

"That's the fair assumption." Shawn said. "Or it would've been had the ledges above our heads not existed."

Gus looked up, then around, then around again. "There's no way up Shawn."

Shawn nodded, and again started to look around. Gus was right; there were no stairs, no ladders, not even crates to climb on. Shawn did however spot out a rather big hole in the wall. "Over here." Shawn made his way for the hole, Gus following behind him. "There's a way up." Shawn's eyes travelled from the bottom of the hole to the top, the top reaching one of the lower ledges perfectly. Shawn tilted his head to the side, and continued to stare at the hole.

"What are you thinking?" Gus said. "Shawn?"

"I'm thinking…..I bet I could fit in there." Shawn said, he looked to Gus. "What do you think?"

"You have no idea what's in there." Gus tried. "That's what I think."

"I know exactly what's in there." Shawn grinned. "The way up to untouched search ground." His smile got wider then and he seemed to return to normal, working in the field was helping Shawn forget about the night before. Now he was more concerned with peeking around then he was pissing off Lassie. Shawn didn't think too much of it, and without Gus' blessing he started shifting himself into the hole giving little 'urhs' and 'errrehs…' with every inch of his body me managed to squeeze in. He was about half way in when Gus spoke up again.

"Do I have to point out how ridiculous you look right now Shawn?"

"Hold on." Shawn grunted and shimmied his way further, when he was completely inside the hole he honestly felt like a pancake, his arms and legs were uncomfortably twisted to the side in order to accommodate such a tight fit. "I'm going to climb now."

"Climb?" Gus repeated. "You look like you can't even breathe!"

"Er – yeah…." Shawn said. "Got me there." He stopped to think – he knew this was the best up to the ledges but how? Shawn shimmed back towards the hole's exit, and giving the edge a good look over figured it out. He positioned his body so that one arm and leg were still in the wedge, and that his other arm and leg were wrapped around the main wall. It wasn't easy, but Shawn managed to hoist himself upwards.

"Don't fall!" Gus hollered, and Shawn sighed.

"Concentrating!" Shawn hollered back, and he continued to move upward. After a couple minutes, he reached the top, and was on one of the lower edges. The platform was just big enough for one person to walk on. "Made it!" Shawn turned to look down at Gus and to hold one of his arms up in the air in victory.

"Great!" Gus gave a weary thumbs up. "Well -what do you see?"

Shawn set to work; the platform was covered in dirt, twigs, and even old bird eggs. It was a complete mess. "Nothing significant." Shawn started. Which was unsettling, he tried moving some twigs around and even kicked up good amount of dirt but there was nothing on that platform.

"I need to go higher." Shawn announced, and this time Gus really didn't look like he believed him.

"How?" Said Gus. "You barely made it up there!"

Shawn looked up; the lower platform he was standing on was just barely within reach of one of the warehouses support beams. Shawn followed the beam and noted that it ended on another platform – a higher one. "It's like playing Mario." Shawn hadn't played Mario since gameboys were giant hand held grey blocks. "I'm going for it."

Gus watched as Shawn reached for the support beam, and he cringed when the beam made a screeching noise as it struggled to support Shawn's weight. "You're going to fall!" Gus was officially worried.

"Don't worry about it." Shawn encouraged. He was hanging off the beam with just his hands, his feet just inches off the platform. Shawn figured the best way to do this was to pull a James Bond. He swung his legs forward and locked them firmly around the beam.

"Spencer!"

Detective Lassiter barely slept; every time he slid his eyes closed all he could see was Spencer – or the victim, sometimes both. It was maddening. Lassiter had returned to work in the morning to find Juliet and the Chief waiting for him.

"We're going back to the warehouse today." Juliet said. "I thought if we got a few ladders we could look up in the rafters."

"Sounds like a plan." Lassiter was pleased by this, getting up in the rafters was the best idea he heard in the last 48 hours. Especially with the way Aaron described how he found the body.

"_He fell from the roof! I swear man I swear!"_

"_Don't call me man; just tell me what happened from start to finish."_

The story? Aaron and his girlfriend Tanya slipped into the warehouse to be alone, they began to argue and just as the argument was becoming more heated something in the rafters had cracked and Aaron had been landed on by the victim. Lassiter and O'Hara had searched the entire premises and failed to find a way up onto any of the platforms. So the following morning when O'Hara announced they now had ladders at their disposal Lassiter was looking forward to getting up to the real crime scene.

The two had reached the warehouse in record timing, and Lassiter distracted by his work had almost completely forgotten what had happened between him and Spencer the night before. Of course – that was before he had come into the warehouse only to see Spencer already dangling from a balance beam.

"Spencer!" Lassiter was furious, not only had Spencer beat him here – but he was already in a compromising position. Lassiter found himself worrying like crazy. What if Spencer had fallen and gotten hurt? Then what? The rafters to the floor wasn't exactly a small drop.

At Lassiter's outburst, Shawn cringed a bit. He craned his head downward to get an upside down view of the detective. He was still pretty irked about last night, but giving Lassie the benefit of the doubt and absolutely loving the look of pure disdain on his face Shawn instead of telling him off took the higher road. "Top of the morning to you Lassie! I'd wave but – you know." Shawn used his head to gesture to the support beam he was still wrapped around.

"Spencer!" Lassiter tripped over his own words. "How the hell did you get up there!" Lassiter then turned to Gus and repeated the question in a more controlled volume. "Seriously, how the hell did he get up there?"

"Climbed up a hole." Gus gestured to where Shawn had hoisted himself up. Inwardly Lassiter face palmed.

"Shawn!" Juliet called out. "What exactly is your plan?" Lassiter shot Juliet a hard glare. "What?" Juliet shrugged. "He's already up there."

"Well!" Shawn started, "I was driving along with Gus when I had a vision, I could see the killer up here. There's a clue up here somewhere waiting for me to find it."

"Here's a clue for you Spencer! If anyone's going to find a clue Spencer it's the police who are ACTUALLY working the case." Lassiter refused to let that go. Yes in the past he had been determined to keep Shawn away from police work but this case felt a little more personal. Truthfully the detective just wanted Shawn to not be near possible danger.

"Did you just use word play on me?" Shawn looked down again, "The hell was that?"

"Not intentionally!" Lassiter nearly snarled. "Come on Curious George, get your ass down here and let the real cops do their job!"

"Curious George?" Retorted Shawn. "Really now? !" Shawn huffed and continued on his way up the beam still wrapped around it tightly. "George of the jungle – maybe, he was an alright kind of guy. But a monkey, I'm not a monkey!"

"Oh I beg to differ…" Lassiter grumbled.

"I wouldn't mind being George of the_ Jungle_." Gus mused. "Brendan Fraser did an alright job."

"I don't know…" Shawn thought about it. "I think if I had to choose…I'd go with Joe Lara."

"Joe Lara?" Gus blinked.

"Tarzan in Manhattan." Shawn finished. "Google it!"

"Oh yeah….nice choice!"

"Stop encouraging him!" Lassiter shook his head at Gus and looked back up at Shawn. "Spencer would you get the hell down from there already? !"

"Oh come off it!" Shawn snapped. "I'm already here, just let me do what I do!" Shawn's sudden change of tone had Juliet and Gus raising their brows.

"What the hell dude!" Gus yelled immediately.

"Shawn just be careful." Juliet was quick to try to end confrontation. She turned to Lassiter. "Just a little longer." She said. "Okay? Then we'll solve it our way."

Shawn took the following silence as the green light and started guiding himself across the beam, sliding his legs downward across and using his arms to push forward. It was a lot harder then it looked in the spy movies. All too suddenly Shawn regretted skipping P.E to sneak into R rated movies. None the less, he struggled forward.

"He's an idiot." Lassiter grumbled.

"We have ladders." Juliet reminded him. "He could probably use a ladder."

Gus heard them, and didn't think twice. "Yo Shawn! Juliet says they brought ladders!"

Shawn paused. "Are you serious?" He craned his head back down and looked to Lassiter again. "Lassie! You're holding out on me?"

"I-Oh for god's sake!" Lassiter turned and yelled at the first uniform who had followed them in. "You! Go outside, grab a stupid ladder."

The ladder was a god send it seemed, it was tall enough that Shawn managed to use it to get up to the next platform, the higher platform was bigger than the first one and it had a lot more to offer. Immediately Shawn could see thread marks – yes someone had definitely been up here. How long ago? Shawn couldn't really tell, none the less Shawn began to look around. Like the first platform this one was covered in dirt and twigs. However Shawn could see a definite trail leading towards the support beam that was higher up then the one he had used get up there. Only this support beam was bent in the middle. Shawn took that detail into consideration – probably where the victim had fallen, his eyes travelled down to the outline of the body, it was a near perfect line. In Shawn's mind he could see the victim, already stabbed, bleeding profusely, and trying to use the support beam to get away from his attacker.

The others from down below were watching Shawn quite intently – Lassiter's brows were furrowed considerably. "Can I please ask why we're not up there doing this ourselves?" However Juliet and Gus both cut him off with a prompt 'shh!' Lassiter could only shake his head. Why the hell was it always three against one?

Shawn continued to look around the platform, so far nothing significant was coming up. At least not until Shawn carelessly kicked down a pile of dirt. It was pure luck, kicking the dirt aside had revealed a letter opener. It was matted in dry mud, and under the mud? Shawn was willing to bet blood. Shawn recalled the victim's stab wound in the picture. The wound hadn't been that big however it did look like it had been deep. Shawn was certain he was looking at the murder weapon. Normally when making this discovery Shawn would've just left it and did a whole show with Jazz hands and whimpers to guide the police here, but since the police were already here Shawn just decided to give the murder weapon over.

"Murder weapon!" Shawn called out. That was all the invitation Lassiter and O'Hara needed. Pretty soon both detectives were on the ladder, and joining Shawn on the second platform with gloves and a plastic baggy.

"He's right – it's the murder weapon."

Later on that day Lassiter and O'Hara had returned to the morgue, they had dusted the letter opener for prints and were now waiting for a match. As they waited they decided to match the letter opener to the victim's stab wound. Lassiter wasn't entirely keen on seeing the victim up close again – he had to keep reminding himself that the body on the table wasn't Spencer.

It really was uncanny though, and no longer surprising but rather creepy. Lassiter stared at the victim's face for a good amount of time.

"Carlton? Carlton?" He finally looked away and back to O'Hara.

"What was that?" Lassiter sounded like he just dropped in from space.

"I said Shawn was right." Juliet went on. "The letter opener is our murder weapon – are you okay?"

"Peachy." Lassiter lied. "Alright, we'll go back to the station write up the report on the weapon and hope that we get some damn print results by tonight."

Nothing came up, by that night whoever the prints were proving to be useless – no matches were being found on file. It was steadily getting later, and while Lassiter was determined to stay and keeping looking for a match -Juliet could barely keep her head up. "Home." Lassiter instructed her. "I'll keep you posted."

An hour after Juliet had left and nothing still had come up, Lassiter was debating making himself some coffee when the full weight of Shawn Spencer dropped unexpectedly into the chair O'Hara had been sitting in earlier. "Still looking for prints?"

"Yeah…" Lassiter was giving up, if Spencer was going to poke his nose in this regardless of what he said than there really wasn't anything he could do. "If you want to have a vision, or a vibe, or dramatic episode – be my guest."

"Does this mean you're letting me on the case?" Shawn sounded surprised.

"Got to clear it with the chief, but if you're going to be poking around anyway. You might as well get paid."

"Appreciated." Shawn said, he fell silent next to the detective. Needless to say it was a little uncomfortable – all Lassiter could think of now were Shawn's lips, and the way Shawn had said his name breathlessly.

'_Lassie…'_

"Lassie?" Shawn was really talking now, and Lassiter looked over to the other man – had Shawn's eyes always been that shade of blue?

"What?" Lassiter pretended like he didn't notice the way Shawn smiled then, like he knew what Lassiter was thinking about.

"Nothing." Shawn said teasingly. In Shawn's mind, Lassiter was being adorably clueless. Suddenly Lassie was more than an over bearing closet case – he was a challenge. A very delicious challenge. However currently they were working. Shawn returned to the issue on hand. Shawn looked around, his eyes landing on the new photos that were on Lassiter's desk. "Murder weapon?" Shawn asked.

Lassiter nodded, and Shawn flipped through the pictures. That letter opener. Shawn knew that letter opener! Shawn took a long breathe – he didn't manage to get a good look at the letter opener earlier but now that he was staring at the picture he was shocked to see that he recognized the weapon – when he really shouldn't have. The letter opener or at least a similar letter opener had been a gift. A gift from Shawn to his old '_pa'l_ Marcus. Oh the memory was all too clear.

"_What's this?" Marcus Tuly was older then Shawn by about seven years, having met Spencer early in the morning. Tuly was working the morning route as a mail man; Shawn had been on his way to school. It was Shawn's graduating year. _

"_A letter opener." Shawn commented, by the time he had given Marcus the letter opener the two had become a little more than friends – Shawn meant the gift as ironic, he was a funny guy like that. Marcus looked over the letter opener skeptically. The older man did not want Shawn telling people about their tryst. It was embarrassing to say the least; he wasn't gay until he had met Shawn. He honestly believed Shawn made him gay. Of course Shawn didn't see it that way. "You're a mail man." Shawn chuckled. "Now you can go through people's mail."_

_Marcus did think it was funny, but he had to ask. "Why are you giving this to me?"_

"_It's been six months." Shawn was happy to announce. "I'm a romantic, I like marking down occasions."_

_Marcus grinned and held the letter opener up to examine it. "It is really nice." Marcus said. "I can't accept it though."_

"_Why not?" Shawn asked, and he pouted. _

"_Because Shawn. This entire relationship is – inappropriate."_

"_Secret." Shawn corrected. _

"_Illegal." Marcus said. "You're barely 18 – I'm in my 20's Shawn."_

"_I'll be 18 soon enough." Shawn shrugged it off like it was no big deal. "Wait – are you nervous that my dad's a cop?"_

"_Of course not." Marcus said lightly, it then clued in what Shawn had just said. "Wait -Your dad's a fucking cop? !" _

"_Er – yes?" Shawn honestly thought Marcus knew._

_Marcus started to panic. "Oh god I'm going to jail, I'm having sex with a minor….Your dad's a cop…..oh god…Not Jail, your dad probably knows how to hide bodies….I'm going straight to hell! This is a sign – God is punishing me…."_

"_God isn't punishing you." Shawn blinked. "Did you just completely blow your lid?"_

"_No I did not just blow my lid!" Marcus hollered. "I just found out your dad's a cop! A fucking cop Shawn!"_

"_It's fine." Shawn insisted. "My dad and I aren't exactly Bonnie and Clyde, so even if he knew I don't think he'd care. As far as I know he doesn't give a damn whose gay or not."_

"_I'm not gay!" Marcus cut him off then. "I'm not gay Shawn."_

"_Bi then." Shawn said. "That's cool, I'm bi."_

"_I'm not any of that!" Marcus' voice was getting louder. "Not now, not ever!"_

"_Because what we just finished doing on your mom's couch is SO straight." Shawn said, he used sarcasm and was getting pretty pissed Marcus was suddenly freaking out so much. _

"_You did this to me…" Marcus said. "You seduced me!"_

"_All I did was pick up my mail on the way to school." Countered Shawn. "You're the one who said hello – hmmm you know what, I take it back. It was my fault. I should've been honest with you from the beginning, my real name is Recneps Nwahs. I just spell it backwards on earth as to not raise suspicion, but really I'm a demon sent to collect men's souls and add them to Satan's big gay army."_

_Shawn thought he was being funny, Marcus was already pissed so what was the worst that could happen? That question was answered when Marcus had lost control; he punched Shawn right in the face. Shawn was down but he wasn't out – and he just looked at Marcus confused like he couldn't believe the other man had just hit him. _

"_Get out of my house!" Marcus yelled. "Get out of my house!" _

_Shawn had left the house with a black eye. and in a run – that was the last time Shawn had seen Marcus Tuly._

"Shawn?"

Shawn snapped back and realized he was still in the police station; Lassiter was peering at him with a concerned look on his face. "You've been looking at that photo for awhile. "

"I have." Shawn said lightly. "It's familiar." Shawn went with that for now – just because the letter opener looked the same, and because the victim looked like Shawn didn't mean Marcus was a suspect.

_Oh but it does, _

It was only a matter of time before the police got onto Marcus' trail, but Shawn decided to get there first. He handed the photo back to Lassiter. "I have to go."

"Go?" Lassiter was confused. He just let Shawn in on the case – and now he was leaving? "You're leaving?"

"I'll be back." Shawn promised, and he was up. Lassiter didn't think, he sat up to and was grabbing Shawn's arm. He wasn't going to say it out loud but he didn't want Shawn to leave.

"Where the hell are you going?" Lassiter had never seen Shawn act so – finicky, what the hell did Spencer just see? Should he follow him? Shawn slipped out of his grasped and just looked to him apologetically before bolting out of the station.

Lassiter decided against following Shawn – for now, and continued to look for prints. Shawn on the other hand had hoped on his bike and was across town within 20 minutes. The house he came to looked the same – small and a bit run down, it wasn't the safest of places to be but Shawn knew his way around and figured he'd be okay. Shawn knocked on the front door, and waited.

The man who opened the door was not the man Shawn remembered, Marcus Tuly was older – nearing his 40s and he had lost a considerable amount of weight. He regarded Shawn with a confused look. The confusion finally turned to recognition then and he seemed to come awake. "Shawn what hell are you…?"

"Oh was just in the neighborhood," Shawn said casually "and I just wanted to ask if you've killed anybody lately."


	4. The Mailman

**A/N: **First off. My MS Word got all screwy with me today, so the spacing is off. I wasn't completely convinced would fix it – so if it doesn't, I'm sorry some of the lines are really far away!

Secondly, yaaay chapter 4! This chapter isn't too Shassie-rific, but fear not. I've got a truck load of Shassie content planned for chapter 5 so just be patient with me! They still have a case to solve, and some old scars to sew before the fic is over.

Thirdly, I'm SO sorry. I try so hard to make sure that all my OC's are fairly trivial characters who don't do much. I'm in constant fear that my OC's will cross over to 'Mary Sue' territory and am in even more fear of the rejection Mary Sue's receive. However - it should be noted, that I consider Psych to be a 'cop dramady' and thus if this story is going to have any meat to it – it NEEDS OC's. With that in mind – please feel free to message me at any time and tell me if you think my OC's need to be promptly shot and buried.

Okay now onward!

**The Mailman**

Shawn wasn't surprised when Marcus closed the door in his face. Clearly not wanting to speak to or see Shawn – but Shawn had somewhat of a personal vendetta and was insistent on knocking on the door repeatedly until Marcus finally gave up and flung the door open.

"Why are you here?"

"I asked you a question first." Shawn stood his ground, but Marcus didn't seem to notice.

"A stupid question." Marcus pointed out. "Now why are you really here?"  
>"Dead serious." Shawn said. "Fess up Mark, why'd you do it? Did seeing him bring back some uncomfortable memories? Did he make the mistake of saying hi to you?"<br>"Shawn….what the hell…" Marcus was looking at Shawn like he had grown a second head, and he clearly wasn't impressed with the way Shawn seemed to keep pushing him. "I didn't kill anybody."  
>"The body at the morgue begs to differ." Shawn mused. "The police don't have an I.D yet, but we have the murder weapon. Lose anything lately?"<br>"You're a cop now?" That seemed to be the only part of the last statement Marcus heard. "I thought you hated cops."  
>Shawn sighed, he wasn't getting anywhere with Marcus at all. "Look, I'm not playing around okay? Let me in so we can talk."<br>Marcus seemed to think about it, but reluctantly he obliged and let Shawn in. "A dead body huh?" Marcus shook his head. "Sounds heavy."  
>"Pretty heavy." Shawn sat down, and watched as Marcus sat across from him. "I need to know what you were doing the night of the 7th."<br>"I was here." Marcus said.  
>"Can anybody vouch for you?" Shawn asked.<br>"The pizza guy."  
>"What happened the night after I left Marcus?" Shawn needed to know. "I mean – you punched me in the face, and then didn't come after me when I ran out of here..."<br>"That was years ago Shawn." Marcus pointed out. "I was young and stupid, I am sorry for that – but what does this have to do with what you're asking me right now?"  
>Shawn debated his answer; he couldn't exactly spill too many details. Telling Marcus anymore and he risked Lassie having him for dinner.….and not in a good way.<br>"Classified." Shawn said then – he had to grin, Lassie would be so proud. "Hey – one detail?" Shawn asked then. "The letter opener I gave you-"  
>"Threw it out." Marcus explained. "I hated you. Didn't want to think about you, as soon as you were gone I trashed it."<br>Shawn sighed. "You're serious?"  
>"Yes I'm serious." Marcus said. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help."<br>"It's fine." Shawn commented, and he stood."Thanks for letting me in though." Shawn said.  
>"Hey wait up." Marcus said suddenly, and Shawn stopped and turned around to face him. Marcus looked like he was struggling with what he wanted to say and Shawn idly wondered if maybe the other man was about to confess – and Marcus did confess…sort of. "Look at me Shawn; I'm in my late 30's, No wife, no kids – not even close to that type of life. A man my age should have some sort of foundation for himself, a lifestyle he's comfortable and happy with."<br>"You're a preacher now." Shawn really had no idea where this was going – nor did he necessarily care, it might've been years ago but Marcus Tuly lost all credibility with Shawn the second he balled his hand into a fist.  
>"I'm trying to say that you were right." Marcus went on. "I didn't want to admit it, because really who does? Shawn I'm gay."<br>Shawn scratched the back of his head – okay so Marcus was being honest, finally. However it was a little late and even though Shawn didn't want to be mean he wasn't exactly throwing Marcus a parade either. He decided to hit middle ground. "Thank you." Shawn finished.  
>"What?" Marcus looked like that wasn't the reaction he was looking for. "Did you just say thank you?"<br>"Yeah." Shawn said. "Thank you – followed by; I knew it all along, I told you so, better late than never, the early bird gets the worm, you made your bed now lie in, eat your green veggies, don't eat the yellow snow…."  
>"Shawn!" Marcus cut him off. "You were rambling."<br>"I do that." Shawn defended. "Point is – maybe if you had been honest with yourself years ago we wouldn't be standing here right now."  
>"You're right." Marcus mused. "As always."<br>"I am right." Shawn said. "I'm also leaving now."  
>He didn't let Marcus stop him then, Shawn was out and back on his bike returning to his apartment – it was late and he was too tired to bug Lassie anymore tonight. Or so he thought, when he pulled up to his apartment he was surprised to see Lassie's cruiser parked right outside. Shawn quirked a brow and parking his bike he wandered up to Lassie's car, pressing his hand to the engine he felt that it was cooler. Lassie had been hanging around for a few minutes now- but where?<br>"Lassie!" Shawn called out thinking maybe Lassiter was just walking around his building or something, but when Lassie didn't show his face Shawn made a confused face – was Lassie in his apartment?  
>Shawn moved over to his door and pulled out his keys to let himself in, but before he even got the key in the lock his door was swinging open and Lassiter was standing in his threshold – he looked worried.<br>"Where were you?" Lassiter said, he didn't look happy.  
>"Around." Shawn promised. "…..Why are you in my apartment?"<br>"We got an I.D on the body." Lassiter responded.  
>"That's great!" Shawn said ….."why are you in my apartment?"<br>"Oh." Lassiter stopped. "I came over to tell you, but you weren't here. You had left the station in such a hurry that I thought maybe you had seen something."  
>"The phone?" Shawn tried.<br>"I wasn't really thinking." Lassiter admitted, and Shawn suppressed the urge to grin – Lassie was worried about him. Shawn pushed passed Lassiter to enter his apartment and didn't bother asking Lassiter to leave.  
>"You're probably exhausted." Shawn tried. "Let me make you some coffee."<br>"Coffee?" Lassiter said.  
>"Yes coffee, caffeine, that stuff you drink when you know red bull is going to stop your heart. Now.." By this time Lassiter had followed Shawn to the kitchen and Shawn had grabbed two coffee cups. "The body – who was he?"<br>"Derek Atkinson – he was in Santa Barbara site seeing with his sister."  
>"How do you know this?" Shawn asked.<br>"His sister called." Lassiter explained. "According to her, on their last day here Derek met a few party goers and decided to join them. He promised his sister he'd catch a later flight. He didn't give her an exact time, and she finally decided 4 days was long enough. When he didn't answer his phone she called the station."  
>Shawn was in the process of pouring coffee grinds into the filter. "That doesn't necessarily mean he's our body."<br>"Maybe not." Lassiter admitted. "I asked for a description, near perfect match. She's flying in to meet me tomorrow and give a proper identification."  
>"Sad." Shawn commented. "Poor girl must be a wreck. Having to fly out here just to see if her brother's dead…" It was really sad. Shawn went on with making the coffee. "What's the sister's name?"<br>"Kayla." Lassiter answered. The aroma of fresh coffee was filling the small kitchen. Had it not been for the talk of dead bodies it would've been a serene little scene. Shawn poured the coffee as soon as the coffee maker turned itself off and handed Lassiter a steaming cup. They drank in silence for a short while until Shawn remembered that Lassie hadn't exactly been invited.  
>"So after looking around my apartment what made you decide to break in?" Shawn asked. "Were you that worried?"<br>"I don't know." Lassiter again shook his head. "You left, near panicked. I wasn't going to follow you but then Kayla called as soon as you were gone. I maybe wondered if you had seen something. I guess I was making sure you weren't getting yourself into a messy situation."  
>"That's what Gus is for." Shawn joked and drank more of his coffee. "Your sentiment is appreciated though."<br>"Thanks." Lassiter admitted. "So – where did you go?"  
>Shawn stopped then, he wasn't comfortable talking about Marcus. Hell only Gus kind of knew what the nature of their relationship was, but even Gus didn't know of Marcus until Shawn had shown up at Gus' window with a black eye. Shawn remembered it like it was yesterday...<p>

"_Shawn what the hell happened to you? !" Having your best friend show up in your bedroom window clearly injured was obviously not fun for the other teen. _  
>"<em>He hit me." Shawn cursed. "He freaking hit me Gus! I was just trying to help him."<em>  
>"<em>Calm down." Gus told him, and he moved aside to let Shawn slide into his room, still holding onto his eye. "What happened?"<em>  
>"<em>I was arguing with Marcus, he lost it on me, used his fist not his words."<em>  
>"<em>Wait…" Gus stopped. "Marcus – your mail man?"<em>  
>"<em>Yes the mail man." Shawn said. <em>  
>"<em>Isn't it a little late for Marcus to be delivering mail?"<em>  
>"<em>He wasn't delivering mail, I was at his house."<em>  
>"<em>You were at the mail man's house?" Gus had to think about that one. "Why were you…." It clicked in Gus' mind then. "How come you didn't tell me?"<em>  
>"<em>I'm 17." Shawn answered. "He's 27 – I didn't tell <em>_anybody__. I didn't want him to go to jail."_  
>"<em>Fair enough." Gus said – right then he wasn't concerned that Shawn kept a secret from him, he was more concerned that his friend was hurt. "Only you're changing your mind now and we're totally going to your dad now right?"<em>  
><em>Shawn didn't answer him. <em>  
>"<em>Shawn?"<em>  
>"<em>Nah Gus its fine." Shawn said quietly. "We'll just forget about it. From now on Marcus never existed, and if my dad asks I got a little too smart with one of the football players at school." Truthfully? Up until Marcus hit him, he had been great. Part of Shawn felt like he'd never stop loving him, and only a small part of him was really aware of how damaging that could be.<em>

The memory faded and Shawn was in his kitchen still with Lassiter. "I asked a question." Lassiter said.  
>"To a friends." Shawn answered. "I saw that they were upset, I couldn't stay away. I'm sorry I freaked on you."<br>Why did he feel the need to lie still after so many years? Shawn supposed it was a force of habit. Aside from Gus he was sure no one else knew about him and Marcus – say for Marcus, and say for Gus he was sure no one else knew that he wasn't a psychic – say for his dad. Shawn thought that was funny, two major lies in his life and they involved him, Gus, and a third party.  
>Lassiter frowned, he didn't believe Shawn one bit, it was annoying. He watched as the psychic finished his coffee and gestured to Lassiter's cup. "How's the Joe?" Shawn asked.<br>"Perfectly fine." Lassiter said. "But, it's late. I have work I have to do tomorrow." Lassiter was up. He looked to Shawn again and nearly winced – why was Shawn looking at him like that? Right at that second Shawn's face looked as if he was sad to see the detective go.  
>"Okay." Shawn said, and he walked Lassiter to the door. "Now Lassie." Shawn was back in regular form – damn that caffeine worked fast. "It's fine if you're a little curious about me. Honestly? Who isn't, but breaking and entering is never the answer." Shawn was grinning. "The next time you want to slip into my apartment you need only ask."<br>"What?" Lassiter blinked.  
>"You heard me." Shawn said. The way Shawn was talking right then made it impossible for Lassiter to look away. Was Spencer hitting on him?<br>Why yes, Shawn was indeed hitting on him. He was a hot blooded male after all. "Be honest with me Lassie. You liked it that we kissed."  
>Lassiter wasn't admitting to shit. The detective frowned. "It happened." He said. "Do you want me to write it on a bunch of post it notes and paste them all around the station?"<br>"Maybe." Shawn teased. "What I really want to know though – is why did it happen?"  
>"You stole my folder."<br>"What are you 12?" Shawn said. "Come on Lassie, little deeper than that."  
>"I'm going home now Shawn."<br>Lassiter left then, quicker then Shawn gave him credit for. Shawn was certain Lassiter wasn't playing around. He hated to think that what happened between them was a fleeting moment but maybe it was? Shawn dropped it then and thought of the case. Trying to get the detective to admit to being at least Bi was not nearly as important as the case. Derek Atkinson had been killed and Shawn felt like he owed it to him to figure out who.

Shawn met up with Gus the next morning; the two were ready to head over to the police station to see if Derek Atkinson was indeed the body found in the warehouse.  
>"What's the game plan?" Gus asked. "I mean, normally we're a good step ahead but now we're right on the same page as the police."<br>"I'll figure it out." Shawn promised. "No worries man."  
>"No worries at all." Gus said lightly, of course he wasn't completely sure he believed that. Coming to the station, Shawn and Gus entered in their usual fashion. Shawn was in the process of making a beeline straight for Lassiter's desk with Gus at his side but before he could get too far McNabb had stopped him.<br>"Shawn!" The young cop looked happy to see him, and he hurried over to greet them. "You have awesome timing!"  
>"I do?" Shawn quirked his head, "Uh – yeah, of course I do! I knew I had to be early today so I'm here early. What's up?"<br>"There's an old man here to see you." McNabb said. "Very insistent fellow."  
>Shawn and Gus exchanged a confused glance. Shawn could only hope it wasn't Marcus. He told Gus to sit tight while he followed McNabb to another room. The man waiting for him was not Marcus, he was older then Marcus by at least 2 decades. As soon as Shawn came into the room he was on his feet.<br>"Mr. Spencer." The man greeted.  
>"Ew – no." Shawn happily cut him off. "Not Mr. Spencer, Mr. Spencer is my dad. Just Shawn will do."<p>

"Shawn." The man repeated. "Alright Shawn, let's get down to it." He extended his hand in greeting. "Davis Tuly."

"Tuly.." Red lights were now going off in Shawn's head. "Mr. Tuly, what brings you here?"

"I was just here to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yes, thank you." Mr. Tuly said. "Thank you for setting my son's therapy back a good 13 years."  
>"You're Marcus' dad?" Shawn couldn't believe it.<p>

"Yes, I'm Marcus' dad." and suddenly Mr. Tuly looked pissed. "Now listen here you little fairy! My son has worked too long, and too hard to be put back under your dark magic. I don't want to see you near his house anymore. I don't know what voodoo shit you used to get in his pants before but it shant be happening again!" By the time Mr. Tuly was done he had raised his voice, but Shawn only felt a little intimidated.

"Black magic?" Shawn raised a brow. "Sir are you drunk – what are you going on about?"

"Stay away from my son devil!" Mr. Tuly left it at that, and before Shawn had time to react the old man was leaving. He exited the room, and only offerred McNabb a small nod of acknowledgement before being on his way. McNabb came into the room looking concerned.  
>"I heard that man yelling." McNabb said. "Are you alright?"<p>

"I'm fine." Shawn promised, though truthfully he was a little concerned – who else had Marcus told about their past relationship? Oh well, on the bright side Shawn had a second suspect. Sort of.

"Confidential." Shawn said then. "Nothing on you, it's a Psych thing."

"Oh." McNabb said. "Well alright then."

"Oh and McNabb?" Shawn asked. "Could you not mention the yelling to anybody? It was just trivial – you know? Just an older chap from a different time convinced he's right and all that."

"Um..." suddenly McNabb didn't look sure. "Alright." None the less he agreed. Shawn felt bad but he smiled. "Thanks Buzz." Shawn went back over to Gus who by now was talking with Juliet about the case.

"Derek Atkinson." Shawn heard Juliet say. "His sister isn't in town quite yet, but we're more than positive its him."

"Did anybody ask the sister exactly who he went off with after their trip?"

"She just said party goers." Juliet said. "Pretty vague, we're asking her more questions when she gets here."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Did anybody ask where they were the night Derek split?" Shawn spoke up, and Juliet shook her head.

"Not that I know of." Juliet answered. "Lassiter was the one who took the call. I'm just told to expect the sister before tonight."

"Noted." Shawn said. He turned to search out Lassiter's desk, only to note he wasn't there.

"Where is Lassie anyhow?"

"Coffee run." Juliet said. "He'll be back soon if you wanted to go meet him."

"Maybe I will." Shawn knocked on the desk, and headed out of the station. Only to run into Marcus who was heading into the station.

"Shawn!" Marcus called up to him.

"Er – Marcus...hi."

"Who?" Shawn and Marcus both turned to see Lassiter who was coming up the steps with coffee.

"Lassie!" Shawn greeted. "I was just coming to find you."

"Oh." Said Lassiter "Well I'm here – who is this?"

"Marcus Tuly." Marcus said. "I'm just here to talk to Shawn for a minute."

"Okay I guess..." Like Shawn Lassiter didn't know what to say.

"What's going on Marcus?" Shawn was on him then, and grabbing Marcus' arm started leading him away from the station.

"My dad." Marcus said. "I feel bad. I drove him here because he said someone turned in his wallet – I didn't know until you saw your bike that you were here. I can only imagine what he said to you."

"It's fine." Shawn said. "Your dad though, he doesn't take any prisoners does he?"

Marcus chuckled. "Nope. When my mom died last year I've been hanging around, making sure he's been staying medicated and all that."

"Noble." Shawn tried. "But why would he want to come all the way up here just to yell at me?"

"No idea." Marcus insisted. "I really don't know."

"Okay." Shawn stepped back. "What did he mean when he said I just set your therapy back 13 years?"

"I had some problems." Marcus said. "I'm gay, and back then I didn't like it. I started going to therapy to maybe get the 'gay' taken out of me. Obviously it didn't work – but my dad's from a different time, I couldn't tell him that."

"Well." Shawn said. "Just keep your dad away from the station." Shawn wasn't playing around, and Marcus could see that right away.

"You're dead serious." Marcus said. "You look like you might kill me if I don't do as you say."

"Problem?" Shawn asked, and to his utter surprise – Marcus smiled.

"No problem at all." Marcus insisted. "In the past you were always the funny guy, and this new face I'm seeing? Dead sexy. You should rock it more often."

"I'm going inside now." Shawn was done. "Bye Marcus."

He left then and returned to the station, seeing that Lassiter was already at his desk going over a few things – Shawn personally wanted to talk to Marcus' dad about where he was the night of the 7th but he decided to wait and see where exactly Lassie and Jules were first.

"When is the sister due to arrive?" Shawn asked the question as soon as he reached Lassiter's desk, Lassiter looked up and gave a shrug.

"After 4."

"Okay…" Shawn said. "But until then?"

"Nothing." Lassiter said. "Until we have a proper I.D on him we can't do anything."

"Oh." Shawn said. "Then waiting around it is." He sat across from Lassiter and looked him over; Lassiter looked like he was thinking, before finally –

"So –Marcus?"

"Yup!" Shawn commented. "That's Marcus."

"Have you been friends with Marcus for very long?" Lassiter asked. Shawn saw the awkward way Lassiter was holding onto his pen like he wasn't sure if he wanted an honest answer– and immediately, Shawn thought it was adorable.

"We were never friends." Shawn told Lassiter. "I knew him when I was young; he's just showing his face again now."

"Odd timing." Lassiter commented. "What with our current case – what kind of relationship did you and Marcus have?"

"Are you interrogating me?" Shawn asked then – and had to hide the grin, this was kind of hot.

"Answer the question."

"On what grounds?" Shawn demanded lightly. "Is this part of the case?"

Shawn honestly couldn't tell Lassie that it very well could be, not because Shawn wanted to lie but because Shawn wasn't entirely sure himself. Yes – Marcus was a temperamental asshole who had some troubles. Does that mean he killed a guy? There was no sure way to tell, other than the letter opener he said he trashed more than 10 years prior. Shawn knew he was going to have to do more digging if he wanted straight answers – he was after all in a way, a perfectionist. If the facts don't match up to his 'visions' then it was game over for him and Gus. He was walking on egg shells – something he did normally, but this time around it seemed a little harder. Probably because he really wanted to get into Lassie's pants and he doubted that detective was really into dating crooks.

"What's going on over here?" Gus had finished talking with Jules and was now standing at Lassiter's desk.

"Asking Shawn a couple questions." Lassiter shrugged it off – something that Shawn was secretly thankful for.

"Questions regarding?" Gus was curious, and Shawn winced. Oh he saw the catastrophe coming from a mile away – it was agonizing. Time seemed to stop as Lassiter's mouth moved along with his next answer.

"Questions about his friend Marcus."

That did it. Gus froze in his feet; he turned to Shawn and gave him a hard look. Tension between the two friends got really thick and Lassiter could see right away he had said something wrong.

"Marcus?" Gus repeated, and he looked down to Shawn. "Marcus The Mailman?"

"The Mailman?" Lassiter blinked. He knew Shawn was lying to him, but he didn't think it was a lie that would have such an effect on Gus. "Tell me more about Marcus the Mailman Guster."

"Gus please…" Shawn felt sick.

"No. Not this time Shawn." Gus sounded apologetic – but none the less. "I kept my mouth shut when we were teenagers because I didn't want to get you into trouble, but now that we're both adults and there's a dead body on our hands. I can't. I'm not going to risk my best friend getting killed, or hurt – _again_."

Shawn was up then, and making his leave. "Fine. I hear you, and I understand, but I refuse to stick around. You guys have fun." At that moment Shawn bolted for the door.

"Spencer wait!" Lassiter called after him but Shawn didn't listen. Lassiter sighed and turned to Gus. "Again?" He asked. He really didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes again." Gus explained.

"Alright." Lassiter was up. "Let's go into the interrogation room, more privacy. If it helps with the case – I want to know everything you know about 'Marcus The Mailman' spare no detail."


	5. A Father Knows

**A/N: **A shorter chapter – but that's okay because there's more coming. Probably within the next 2-4 days depending on work and personal plans. Hope you enjoy!

~ Matilda

**A Father Knows and Now So Does the Detective**

When Shawn had left the station, he did what any logical adult his age would do. He went straight to his dad in a huff. "Dad!" He called out to make sure his dad was home. "Dad!"

"What? !" Henry came around the corner in his usual fashion; he looked Shawn over with a bemused look. "You look like you just got slapped."

"Not slapped." Shawn promised. "Just – antsy. The current case is driving me up a wall. I can't seem to get my self into proper form, got any coffee?"

"You don't need it." Henry looked stern suddenly, and he pointed to the nearest chair. "Sit your ass down. Start talking." He was using his cop voice. Shawn thought it was a little funny; his dad's cop voice was intimidating, while Lassie's cop voice had the capability of making Shawn want to drop his pants.

"So talking…" Shawn said. "What would you like to know?"

"Tell me about your case."

"Well it all started 3 nights ago when Lassie started calling us all up and saying that I was dead."

"This is the case you're working on now?"

"Yes." Shawn said. "It took some convincing but I finally got on it – easy peasy… At least finding the murder weapon was. Like I said I can't seem to get my foot up on this one."

"Maybe it just isn't your case." Henry said. "Happens to the best of us, there's always one job – where no matter how you approach it, it doesn't work. Just give it back Carlton."

Shawn pouted "but I don't wanna."

"Your will astounds me." Henry shook his head. "Look, I'm telling you this not because I'm trying to discourage you – but because I've been there. This isn't your case."

"It has to be." Shawn said then. "I was the only one who could look at the victim and not be freaked out by what he looks like. In retrospect, I should probably be able to solve this one solo."

Henry gave a harsh "ha!" followed by his index finger pointed right at Shawn's face. "In this case what you just said is the complete opposite of the truth. Shawn of all the people concerned about the victim's looks you're the one whose more afraid. Me personally? I had my moment of grief – I truly thought you were gone, but now that I see you're not. I'm perfectly okay. I could walk right up to the victim's body and do a jig if I really wanted to."

"You're serious?" Shawn didn't believe him. "Well if that's the case – what the hell is wrong with me?"

"You expect me to know?" Henry took his finger out of Shawn's face then. "I don't know – hell, my best guess is that under this cool demeanor you're carrying there's this underlying concern that maybe you were supposed to be the victim all along. But now that it's out that you're still alive, you might still be a target. There are a lot of crazies in the world who believe 'psychics' are advocates for the devil. Any one of them wouldn't think twice about ending your life. You might think you're on the case – but you're lying low."

Shawn gawked. "Did you move into my brain or something – Did Dr. Phil possess your baldness?"

"A father knows Shawn." Henry said simply. "Now – how about that coffee you wanted?"

Shawn agreed and soon Henry was pouring his son a cup of coffee. "Here's one." Henry went on. "What exactly happened to make you come running here?"

"Well, you know how the victim looks like me?"

"Of course." Henry mused. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well." Shawn went on. "We recently found the murder weapon."

"And?" Henry poured himself a cup.

"It looked familiar, it was a letter opener. One I was positive I had seen before."

"That letter opener – the same one you got for that bloke when you were 17?"

At that moment Shawn had been sipping his coffee, and his dad's response made him choke and sputter. "Hold up!" Shawn said when he got his breathe back. "You knew about that?"

"A father knows Shawn." Henry repeated himself and just continued to drink his coffee. "Personally I thought you could do better- but what the hell was I going to say? 'Stop getting porked?' I've scarred you enough as a child."

"I see…" Shawn said. "Well The letter opener looked uncanny, so I had to investigate. I went to Marcus' house to ask some questions."

"Going to a suspect's house alone…" Henry scoffed a bit. "I raised you so well."

"He's not technically a suspect." Shawn said then. "He said he threw out the letter opener."

"He threw out the letter opener alright." Henry agreed. "Right into that guy's chest."

"Throat." Shawn corrected.

"Classy." Henry commended him. "Shawn – he's a suspect. He has to be brought in."

"Oh he will be." Shawn promised. "He was at the station earlier. Just wanted to talk to me, but when Gus mentioned him to Lassie, well I can only assume if Lassie hasn't hog tied him and dragged him in by now. He's getting there."

"You mean you didn't stick around to see the show?"

"Why would I?" Shawn asked.

"If a guy who hit me once got brought in for questioning, I'd be front row center." Henry said. "Call me a sadist."

"Wait…." Shawn tilted his head. "You knew about the hit too?"

"A father knows Shawn." Henry wondered how many times he'd have to say that line to make Shawn listen.

"How come you didn't do anything?" Shawn had to ask.

"I couldn't." Henry said. "I wanted to – believe me I did, but that would've been invading your privacy. I knew you were an idiot and I was worried but I knew you wouldn't be going back there."

"And yet – you pressed charges on me for stealing your car." Shawn almost laughed. "He works in mysterious ways…"

"Not mysterious." Henry replied. "You stole my car you idiot, and by then you were legally an adult. Privacy or not, theft is still a crime."

And so was hitting someone. Gus told Lassiter everything he knew – which wasn't a whole lot, but it was enough that Lassiter had himself a suspect. Juliet and McNabb were sent to Marcus' to collect him for questioning, as for Lassiter? He was driving currently. The cruiser moved through traffic easily and Lassiter was certain he knew where Shawn had run off to. He pulled up to Henry's within 20 minutes of leaving the station. He was right, as soon as he was exiting his car – Shawn was coming out of the front door and heading down the lawn.

"What are you doing here?" Shawn greeted the detective with just a little discomfort in his voice.

Lassiter paused for a second – he looked Shawn over like he was looking for scars. Gus told him that this guy had hit him. Sure it was years ago, but the idea still stung. Maybe Lassiter would've been able to shrug it off had Marcus not been a suspect – oh but fate was funny.

"If I ask you to get in the car – would you run away?" Lassiter asked. Shawn merely shrugged.

"Probably not. Did you want to take me somewhere?"

"Walk with me." Lassiter said, Shawn obliged and he fell into step with the detective.

"You know it was years ago – right?" Shawn tried, Lassiter nodded.

"Yup I know, I didn't even know you existed back then."

"I knew you existed." Shawn countered, he then gestured to his temple. "In the vaguest sense."

Lassiter chuckled a bit. "Can I ask – what attracted you to him?"

"Before his fist?" Shawn said. "I don't know. He was older, better looking back then compared to now. I don't really have a sound answer."

"You know he's a suspect now right?"

"I know." Shawn said. "I don't think he did it – but I know."

"Speaking of which." Lassiter went on. "Considering the fact he's a suspect, and considering the fact your history with the suspect. You're totally off the case."

Shawn huffed a bit. "Knew that was coming."

"Hey." Lassiter shrugged. "You still provided a service to the police. You located the murder weapon and found how our victim got up in the rafters. Off the case or not – you're still getting paid."

"Alright!" Shawn sounded happy. "Netflix for another month."

"Good work Spencer." Lassiter used sarcasm.

They continued walking in silence. Shawn was starting to feel more comfortable in the matter, and he noticed that every few steps Lassiter would give him a side glance. "You're thinking about our kiss."

"We're still on that?" Lassiter suddenly asked.

"Of course we're still on it!" Shawn exclaimed. "Now that I'm off that case, I really don't have anything else to focus on."

Lassiter face palmed. Thank god he had to be back at the station by 4. "Just don't focus too hard." Lassiter prompted. "You might hurt yourself."

"Least of my worries." Shawn smiled. "Now – do you think it happened because we have undeniable sexual tension or because we were both really tired?"

"I wasn't tired…" Lassiter quickly realized what he said. "No I mean – I was…"

"Ha!" Shawn cut him off. "Flock of Seagulls never Ran so far away in their life, I got you!"

"God dammit Spencer! I-" Lassiter had turned with the full intention of telling Shawn to shove it, but instead what he got as another kiss. Lips pressed together and the detective completely forgot what he was going to say. The spark was instantaneous. Spencer's long arms worked their way up around Lassiter's neck and Lassiter had grabbed onto Shawn's hips.

Shawn was persistent little bastard – and he carried that title with pride. So far kissing the detective had been the best part of his day, _despite_ the fact he had gotten rick roll'd that morning when he was checking his email. He deepened the kiss, pulling back just enough that the detective had to follow his lead, and when Lassiter placed his hands firmly on Shawn's hips Shawn melted. How did Lassie always find the best spot on his sides? Shawn arched against Lassiter's form and used his arms to press their lips tighter together.

Shawn's lips tasted like coffee and pineapples, normally a combination that Lassiter would detest but on Shawn? Irresistible. His tongue found its way to the psychic's mouth on its own accord, gently probing at the bottom lip begging for access. Shawn was more than happy to allow it, and electricity between the two of them got hotter. Shawn was ready to take it even further, but as it stood they were in public and Shawn pulled away.

"You have a case to solve." Shawn reminded him. "You should get going."

Lassiter gawked. "I…"

Shawn smiled. "No worries, call me when you're done and head over to my place. I'll be home."

"Shawn – I don't know."

"I do." Shawn said. "Just be there."

Lassiter agreed, and left to retrieve his car. Shawn felt like he had just won the lottery. He practically skipped home remembering then that his apartment smelled like funk via the pile of dirty laundry he finally dug out of his closet. He promptly called Gus.

"Dude! We're off the case."

"I know." Gus said. "and I'm not sorry."

"Don't be, turns out – I'm okay with it. Meet me at my place in half n hour."

"What?" Gus sounded confused, Shawn spared the detail of him sucking on the detective's lips.

"Don't ask questions just come over man – oh and Gus?"

"What?"

"You don't by chance have any laundry soap do you?"


	6. Laundry

**A/N: **It's been a few days, but I'm back!... For now- I lost my old version of MS Word and the one I'm on now is only a 60 day trial. Sigh. Oh well, by the time the 60 day trial is up, it'll be mid June and I can just live off of Open Office up until June 27th which is my b-day. For my b-day I'm asking for the student version of MS Office.

Alright lol, no idea why you needed to know that, but now you do! So fair warning before you read this chapter – OC's rule it, just a little. To make up for it though ¾ of the chapter is Shawn and Gus. Please enjoy!

~Matilda

**F Bombs Ahead! This fic is rated M for a reason, if you're opposed to swearing – you know where to find the back button! Thanks!**

**Derek, Kayla & Peter's Laundry**

"Good god Shawn." Gus had to gawk at the pile of laundry in the middle of his best friend's apartment. How much clothes did Shawn even have? "How does this even happen?"

"Good question." Shawn shrugged. "I still haven't figured it out; maybe my clothes are all living breathing creatures that congregate here to say mean things about me, OR I lack the enthusiasm one needs to actually do their laundry. We may never know."

"I've got a pretty good idea." Gus grimaced as he held up a stray t-shirt with just the tips of his middle and index finger. "You know there's no way in hell I'm helping you – right?"

"Maybe not." Shawn commented. "If you want though, you can take before and after pictures."

"Whatever." Gus said. "Grab a basket."

Shawn didn't move away from the pile, instead he put his hands in his pockets and regarded his clothes with a strange amused grin on his face. "Gus – popular culture aside, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"It's time to take over the world?" Gus finished.

"I said popular culture aside." Shawn puffed out his lower lip. "Listen man,"

"Alright – what are you thinking?" Gus took the bait.

"Let's jump in the pile." Shawn insisted.

"Shawn, underneath this pile is a hard floor. You're a grown man."

"Can we at least make a fort?" Shawn asked, Gus made a face.

"I can smell your laundry from here – hell no, and again. You're a grown man Shawn."

"Damn!" Shawn exclaimed. "Damn you for being right. Alright, there will be no jumping or forting." Shawn made for the nearest basket. It wasn't long before he and Gus were in the car heading for the laundry mat, with three over stuffed baskets in the backseat; darks, whites, and colors. Shawn had always been fascinated by how racist laundry was.

"I think it's hilarious." Shawn went on to say. "If these two loads were small enough, I could wash my darks and colors in one go. However if a white t-shirt were to accidentally get thrown into the mix – look out! It's going down, and that white t-shirt is never going to be the same again."

"My favorite part about everything you just said is that whites are the weaker power." Gus said the line in a monotone voice – Shawn might've been the 'funny one' but Gus had his shining moments too. He stared straight ahead at the road as he said that – and Shawn lost it; laughing uncontrollably.

"Gus – I love you."

"What?" Gus cocked his head a bit, "say that again?"

"Bro me forever." Shawn insisted.

They pulled up to the laundry mat and Shawn was happy to see that it wasn't all too busy, which was great – for Shawn. Not too many people did their laundry on weekdays. As they lugged in Shawn's laundry Shawn was quick to hog three machines. "Faster." Shawn commented, and he whipped out a plastic baggy full of quarters.

"Derek!"

Shawn didn't lift his head; he didn't realize that the person calling for Derek was addressing him. "Derek hey!"

Gus gave Shawn a quick jab with his elbow which got Shawn to look up just as another man was approaching Shawn with his hand stretched out. Confused – Shawn tilted his head but none the less shook the man's hand. "Hi…?"

"Man!" The guy continued. "What happened to you the other night? You left the party and no one saw you again."

"Party?" It took Shawn a second, but he realized what this man was going on about. Wow- talk about dumb luck, not even off the case for a day and someone recognized him as the victim. "Oh! The party!" Shawn played along and looked to Gus wordlessly telling him to play again. "Yeah – yeah, man" he put on a 'stoner' tone "I was so ruined that night, I don't even remember if the couch I woke up on was mine."

Gus gave him a bemused look like he couldn't believe Shawn just said that. "Anyway!" The man went on. "If you're not busy you should totally come to the next party this weekend! Your friend here to!"

"Yes!" Shawn agreed immediately. "Where at bromeo?"

"Same as the last party, down in the warehouses." The man looked psyched about it which he probably was. Shawn on the other hand was psyched the man said warehouses.

"Really." Shawn gave Gus a look that clearly said _'guess where we're going!' _Gus made a face trying to say no, but Shawn was back talking to this stranger. "Same one as before?"

"Always the same one." The man said. "The one on the corner of Brock and Clydedale."

_The one next to the one where the victim was found._

"Wicked!" Shawn said. "I will be there – Saturday?"

"Friday – 9:30."

"Done and done!" Shawn bumped knuckles with the guy. "Alright my buddy and I are going to grab some food, but one more quick question if I may….."

"Please."

"These warehouse parties, is it a different crowd every time – or is it a lot of the same people?"

"Always new faces, but a lot of the same people yeah. My friends and I go almost every weekend."

"Thanks for that." Shawn smiled. "Well we're off!" Shawn quickly started to collect his laundry – he hadn't even started to wash it. "Gus! Let's go!" Gus and Shawn made for the door, Gus giving the man a polite smile, doing the one thing Shawn probably should have done.

"Nice to meet you …..?"

"Peter."

"Got it- well see yeah!" Gus left the laundry mat to catch up with Shawn who was throwing his dirty clothes back in to the backseat of Gus' car. "We're not going back to the warehouses." He made it perfectly clear.

"Gus please!" Shawn sounded like he was disappointed. "Think about it, the only reason I'm off the case is because Marcus is a suspect, not because I wanted to be. I was content in thinking that maybe this just wasn't my job and that maybe I could let Lassie have it all. Thank god I'm a believer in fate!"

"Since when?" Gus frowned at him.

"Since what's his face-"

"Peter." Gus offered.

"Since Peter – thank you Gus- came into the laundry mat coincidentally on the same day we did. Mistook me for Derek and blatantly pointed us to a second ware house FULL of potential clues."

"Just call Detective Lassiter and tell him about the second warehouse – please." Gus pleaded with his friend. "It's not that hard to do."

"Oh but it is." Shawn said. "Because not only were we pointed to the second warehouse, we were invited to another party – where my murderer will most likely attend."

"Your murderer?" Gus scoffed a bit. "You're not dead, you mean Derek's murderer."

Something twinkled a bit behind Shawn's eyes, and immediately Gus was yelling at him. "Hell no! You're not doing what I think you want to do! No way Shawn!"

"Gus – Gus, listen!"

"Not listening! You're not doing it!"

"Gus come on, aside from knowing the victim's name, and having ONE suspect – the police have NOTHING on this case. No matching prints came up on the murder weapon. This might be the only chance anyone has of catching this guy. Think about it, a whole ware house full of suspects – if you killed someone then a week later ran into them what would you do?"

Gus sighed. "I'd probably freak out."

Shawn grinned. "Exactly yes! We're on the same page!"

"No we're not." Gus huffed and then proceeded to get into the car. "I don't like this."

"I think it's awesome." Shawn said and he dropped himself into the passenger seat next to Gus. "I can be like – a spy."

"Spy my mass." Gus grumbled.

"It'll be great." Shawn insisted. "You'll come to the party too and be my back up."

Gus sighed and wanted to be done talking about this particular topic. He downright refused to take Shawn to the second warehouse, and urged Shawn to just call Lassiter and give him the tip. They argued about it up until they were back at Shawn's apartment – Shawn promptly shoving his still dirty laundry back into his closet.

"You know, we probably still had time to do your laundry." Gus pointed out.

"Nah." Said Shawn. "That Peter guy was doing laundry, would've been awkward I'll do it tomorrow…. after we hit up the ware houses."

"We're not going to the warehouses!" Gus snapped. "Dammit Shawn, just call Lassiter."

Shawn huffed a bit but for Gus' sake he digressed. "I can always just tell him tonight – if it means _that_ much to you."

"It does." Gus confirmed. "Thank you." He paused then, and looked over to Shawn skeptically. "Wait – tonight?"

"Yeah." Shawn said. "Didn't I tell you? He's coming over later."

"That explains the sudden urge to clean your apartment. Since when do you hang out with detective Lassiter?"

"Since I invited him over earlier." Shawn coughed a bit. "After we uh – kissed and such. I figured it only be right."

Gus nodded in perfect understanding. "Oh okay."

Silence stretched between the two of them. "Hold up." Gus finally said. "You and detective Lassiter did what! ?"**(A/N: I know this breaks up the story- but I'm happy to note that as soon as I typed this line; my ipod shuffle started playing the Psych theme. I squeed like a fan girl, and did a victory dance! Seriously – .ever!)**

"Calm down." Shawn said lightly. "We just kissed – I know what you're thinking 'but he hates you' and you're right he probably does, however that didn't stop him from lip smacking so I'm taking the shot anyway."

"Real happy for you." Gus said "You've only been crushing on him since…?"

"Since he cuffed me at the McCallum house, so many moons ago." Shawn made a wistful sigh. "You're totally invited to the wedding by the way."

At this point Gus had walked over to Shawn's coffee table and was looking over the contents. "If you want any chance with him, you're going to have to hide this." He held up what he liked to call 'incriminating evidence.'

"Say what you will." Shawn said, and he snatched the CD away from Gus. "Taylor Swift is hot."

"Right." Gus said, he used sarcasm but truthfully he was happy Shawn wasn't talking about the warehouses anymore, even if he was just a little uncomfortable with this newer conversation topic. Was he about to ask Shawn details about his kiss? God no, the imagery! But Shawn seemed excited, and Gus liked seeing his friend happy.

Happy was something detective Lassiter was not at that current moment. He was feeling; agitated, stressed, anxious, and downright cruel. True to their orders O'Hara and Mcnab had retrieved Marcus Tuly and brought him back to the station, and both parties unknowing of Lassiter's current situation with Shawn, had made interrogating the man Lassiter's job. This man had once hit Shawn – Lassiter kept remembering that, it infuriated him in a way he couldn't explain. As Marcus Tuly sat down across from him the detective couldn't help the snide grin that graced his features. He was going to enjoy this.

"What's this all about?" Marcus had just been getting home when the police had arrived to take him back to the station; needless to say he was confused.

"Why don't you let me ask the questions?" Lassiter said immediately. He wasn't giving Marcus a chance to act innocent. "Tell me where you were the night of the 7th."

"Home." Marcus said. "I already told this to Shawn."

"Well Shawn's not here." Lassiter said. "Now you're telling me."

Marcus sighed. "What do you want to know?"

At this Lassiter opened the first folder he had with him and slid a picture of the murder weapon over to Marcus to look over. "Recognize this?"

"Yes." Marcus said. "Used to own one just like it, but I didn't kill anybody."

"Oh I beg to differ." Lassiter said, and he slid another picture over to Marcus – the victim. "Look familiar Tuly?"

"It really is uncanny." Marcus commented. "I can see why you'd think it was me."

"No – really?" Lassiter said. "Just confess already."

"I would." Marcus said. "If I did it, but I didn't do it."

"You must think I'm stupid." Lassiter sneered. "I know you did it."

"I did squat." Marcus argued. "Fuck this, I want a lawyer."

Goddamn Lawyer card. Lassiter had to keep from reaching over the table and punching Marcus in the face, he had a hunch that'd it be incredibly satisfying _despite_ the idea being so unprofessional.

"Detective Lassiter." Before Lassiter could start getting really mean however - O'Hara popped her head into the room. "Kayla Atkinson is here."

Lassiter gave a small nod, and getting McNab to escort Marcus out of the room, he gathered up his folders and followed O'Hara to his desk.

Kayla Atkinson was not who Lassiter was expecting to meet. The voice he heard on the phone was rather sharp and commanding giving Lassiter the impression that Kayla was a business woman of some sort. He was expecting a pant suit and a neat hair style. Instead he got the complete opposite. Kayla Atkinson was surprisingly a tiny woman, no more than five feet. She hid her figure pretty well with the baggy beige khaki pants she wore, along with an oversized tye-died t-shirt. Her dirty blonde hair was frizzy and kept in long dread locks bound together with an elastic at the nape of her neck. "Detective Lassiter." She greeted him with the same sharp tone she used on the phone and was quick to shake Lassiter's hand. Her grip was surprisingly tight and Lassiter noted she had scrapes along her knuckles.

"Thank you for coming in." Lassiter said. "I understand this must be very hard for you."

"No kidding." Kayla commented. "I told that fucker not to go to that stupid party. I even said 'Derek don't go to that fucking party' but does he listen? Fuck no."

"Er – yeah…." Lassiter blinked, Kayla Atkinson did not swear this much over the phone. "Would you like to sit down?"

"Nah I'm fine." Kayla said. "So how do we do this? We going down to the morgue, you got a picture – what?"

"I have a photo." Lassiter said. "We can go somewhere private," he suggested. "In case you need a few minutes after you see the photo."

"I don't cry." Kayla cut him off. "People die, its nature, whether it be from old age, disease, and even murder, he died when he was supposed to die and someday we will to."

Lassiter never felt so awkward in life. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he handed Kayla the victim's photo. Kayla looked at it good and hard.

"That's my brother." Kayla said. She handed the picture back to the detective. "I'll be staying at the Barbara Hotel, call me if you have any questions." She didn't give Lassiter a chance to argue with her, Kayla had left. Lassiter looked around to see if anyone else had just witnessed one of the least emotional conversations about murder he's ever had.

"No one else saw that?" Lassiter said out loud. "No one?"

Oh well, in either case. Marcus Tuly had requested a Lawyer, and Kayla had identified her brother. Lassiter was done for now. Grabbing his jacket, and grabbing his things he dialed Shawn as he headed for the car.

"It's me." Lassiter said. "I'm heading over now. " God help him he was going through with this – whatever this was. "I'll be there shortly."

"Great!" Shawn sounded happy, and that surprisingly made Lassiter smile. "I have some news, so hurry it along!" His smile then turned to an unsure frown, what could Shawn possibly have to tell him?


	7. My Two Lassies

**A/N: **This chapter took longer than I thought. Phooey. Oh well! I hope you enjoy it! Also sorry if this chapter seemed a little out of character, new relationships are rocky lol, not the best excuse but it's all I got haha.

Cheers!

~Matilda

**Warning: Mild Adult Theme Ahead**

**My Two Lassies**

It took Lassiter a good twenty minutes to arrive at Shawn's apartment. By the time he got there Shawn was just finishing up doing his dishes. Not lucky enough to own a dishwashing machine, Shawn answered the door his forearms still covered in soap suds and the front of his shirt damp from the constant little splashes that hit him when he was rinsing.

"You're wet." Those were the first words out of Lassiter's mouth; Shawn just stepped aside to let Lassiter walk in.

"Not entirely." Shawn commented. "Give me two minutes; I'm just going to change my shirt."

Lassiter watched as Shawn disappeared into another room, and when Shawn was out of site he stepped in further and glanced around. O'Hara had told him that Spencer's apartment was an old dry cleaners – why he didn't believe her? He'll never know. Personally Lassiter thought it was a bit ridiculous but the moving clothes rack was kind of cool. When Shawn re-emerged from his room in a new shirt, Lassiter was playing with the clothes rack; pushing the button, watching the clothes move, stopping, then pressing the button again.

"Having fun?"

Lassiter took his hand off the button and turned, Shawn was watching him. Watching him and leaning against the door frame of his bedroom casually with his arms crossed. "Your clothes move." Lassiter said dumbly.

Shawn grinned and walking over, he stood close enough to Lassiter that Lassiter could smell him –pineapples and soap -good enough that Lassiter wanted to touch, but Shawn didn't touch him. Instead Shawn just leaned forward and reaching his arm past the detective took his turn on pressing the button. He let the clothes run for a good few seconds, never breaking eye contact; a playful little smile on his face. "It makes getting dressed fun." Shawn pointed out.

Lassiter had to take a step back, he wasn't sure what Spencer was trying to do to him – but dammit it was working. "Fun." Lassiter repeated. "For you." …Yeah, that was all he got.

Shawn then gestured to his couch. "Did you want to sit down?"

"Yes." Lord help him Lassiter felt so awkward, and he moved to the couch quickly, stopping only to stare at the contents of Shawn's coffee table. "Taylor Swift?" He relaxed immediately, Lassiter wasn't fond of the singer and felt comfortable enough in his music tastes that he could totally rip on Spencer for owning a Taylor Swift CD. It wasn't much leeway but it was enough some of the edge between them was shaved off. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Shawn grinned and nabbed up the CD, Gus was right – Lassie didn't approve however it did make for a good ice breaker. Shawn could tell the detective was nervous, and why wouldn't he be? They've known each other for years but this was whole new ground. The last thing Shawn wanted to do was scare the poor man away. "Taylor's new, hip, a little teenie bopper for most people our age -but I personally think she's cute."

"Next you're going to tell me you're impartial to Miley Cyrus." Lassiter frowned a bit and sat down.

"Not today." Shawn said, and he happily moved over to a CD rack. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Lassiter asked. "You want to know what kind of music_ I_ like?"

"I have a pretty good idea actually." Shawn said. "You're into the oldies, classical, some jazz, maybe a little Rat Pack." Shawn could easily see Lassiter in one of his suits, sitting casually in a smoke filled club, a glass of red wine in one hand and a cigar in the other.

_Top drawer indeed._

Lassiter grinned a bit. "Very good Spencer." He watched then as Shawn's reaction was to playfully gesture to his temple in his trade mark 'psychic' pose before starting to rifle through a few of his CDs.

"I actually have a Sinatra in here somewhere." Shawn mused. "Some background music would be nice."

"You don't have to put anything on." Lassiter said. "I'm okay with just talking."

Shawn seemed to think about it, but he did nod in agreement and put the CDs back. "Alright, talking it is." He probably should be telling Lassie about the second warehouse right then but he didn't want to spoil the moment – he'd tell him in a few minutes. Sitting on the opposite corner of the couch, Shawn made himself just a little too comfortable and he easily stretched his legs out draping them over Lassiter's lap. "So! What did you want to talk about?"

Lassiter honestly didn't know. So he had to go for the obvious answer. "Why exactly you've taken to kissing me lately."

Shawn laughed. "Lassie, you're hopeless." He said. "But if you insist, it's because I like you."

Lassiter had to think about that one. "Why?" Asking why was justifiable – right?

"Why not?" Shawn retorted lightly. "You're attractive."

"You think I'm attractive?" Lassiter had trouble believing him; he hasn't exactly had the best self-esteem since his divorce. "You think I'm attractive and you really like me?"

"Yes." Shawn confirmed. "For the longest time." Shawn wanted to ask if Lassiter was a 13 year old girl, but seeing as the detective was struggling a bit he decided against it. Shawn could be a jerk – but even he knew there was a line you just didn't cross.

Again Lassiter had a hard time believing Shawn, what the hell was so special about him? Seriously- what? Of course a more pressing question on Lassiter's mind right then was how exactly he felt about Spencer. He turned to give Shawn a look over; he was a good looking man there was no doubt about that. But Lassiter was starting to notice other things about the man – like how he carried himself; so sure, and carefree. Lassiter was suddenly envious of Spencer's composure. As a cop Lassiter had seen so much, things that any normal person shouldn't be able to stomach, and he had come into contact with so many people both good and bad; but none of them seemed to compare to Shawn. The way Shawn looked then had Lassiter coming to the conclusion that Shawn wasn't just attractive, he was beautiful.

"Lassie – you're staring at me."

Lassiter blinked, and nearly blushed – yes, he had been staring at the psychic. Damn. "I guess I am." Of course denying it would've been no good. "Sorry Spencer."

"Don't be sorry." Shawn encouraged. "I like it."

"You do?" Now Lassiter really was blushing. Aw shit.

"Would I lie?"

"I honestly don't know." Lassiter admitted. He felt a bit sheepish for saying so, but he looked to Shawn again who just smiled.

"Just take my word for it." Shawn insisted. "Believe and accept." Shawn went on to say.

"So…" Lassiter had think about what he was going to say next. "What exactly – does this mean? What do you want from me Spencer?" He had to know, as rough around the edges as the detective had always seemed, he was a relationship man. Casually 'seeing' someone was something he had never been interested in. He had been married once after all, and even when he had been 'seeing' his last partner he had contemplated returning to the rank of officer. If only just so that their relationship could go public and maybe move forward, of course then Spencer had come into the scene and out them. Which Lassiter supposed in the long run, had been for the best – because then he wouldn't be here on Spencer's couch.

"Your soul." Shawn answered him simply. "I have a collection in the back of my closet, sometimes if I get bored I like to call them out and we re-enact episodes of full house. Contrary to popular belief I make a better Uncle Jesse then I do Joey –call me crazy, but I think John Stamos would applaud my enthusiasm."

"Why do you always do that?" Lassiter snapped a bit. "I ask a serious question, and you just veer off into a reference that has nothing to do with the topic on hand."

"I don't think Full House is _that_ off topic." Shawn defended. "I mean – obviously we're not about to run off and adopt the Olsen Twins, and yes I checked that wouldn't be legal so no we're not even going to try. HOWEVER I think something recurring would be preferred. You can come over to my apartment or I can come visit you. Maybe sometimes we can order food, or go sit and eat food in public. Really it all depends on what you're into." Shawn grinned a bit then. "I also like seeing movies and strolling through public parks."

"You want to date?" Lassiter took the initiative to summarize what Spencer just said. Shawn smiled.

"I would love to!" Shawn accepted Lassiter's 'offer' and Lassiter frowned, Spencer had just freaking bested him – again!

"You planned that." Lassiter accused. Shawn sat up and moved so that he was sitting right next to the detective.

"I don't know what you're talking about Lassie." Shawn then leaned over and gave Lassiter a tentative kiss. If Lassiter was going to get angry at Shawn… he totally wasn't now.

Lassiter's eyes slid closed, Shawn's lips in that moment were soft and inviting so he had no problem kissing back. Their first kiss was nowhere near this gentle and Lassiter had admittedly panicked; not because he was kissing another man -but because this other man had the ability to stir unexpected feelings of possessiveness. Spencer was the one person who could drive him up a wall without even trying, but when Lassiter realized all he had to do to shut him up was plant kisses on him all bets were off. Shawn was _his_. Lassiter deepened the kiss, and turning his body towards Shawn wrapped his arm around the other man tightly. Spencer was surprisingly compliant and shifted himself so he was resting on Lassiter's lap, with his arms locked under Lassiter's torso the most he could do was grab onto the sides of Lassiter's shirt, and follow the detectives lead.

Being trapped between his couch and Lassiter was exactly where Shawn had wanted to be, Lassiter always smelled of gun powder and coffee – not an uncommon scent among the police force but mixed with the after shave Lassie wore and Shawn was smitten and addicted. When Lassie pushed him down into a lying position and covered him completely, Shawn's insides started to ache. He was more than willing to give all control to Lassie. Shawn wanted nothing more than for Lassie to touch him – everywhere.

Pineapple crack -if Lassiter had to describe the way Spencer tasted, he'd say pineapple crack. The taste was so prevailing on Spencer's lips that Lassiter wanted all of it, and he felt almost greedy. Eventually he had pushed Spencer into a lying position his tongue probing for entry passed those delicious lips. Shawn's mouth opened and Lassiter didn't bother to right the feeling of triumph that welled up inside him. Topped with the need to make Shawn completely his, Lassiter was quickly losing the ability to think. The inside of Spencer's mouth didn't disappoint, just as soft as his lips, and just as intoxicating. The way Shawn constantly shifted under him had him going crazy, and he was driven to find out if Spencer's body tasted as sweet as his mouth. Lassiter's mouth travelled downward, finding the crook of Shawn's neck, and biting down.

Sweet mother of god…Shawn tensed and moaned. The kissing had his head reeling, and then Lassie got rough with him and bit his neck. Shawn's reaction was perfect, his hands latching onto Lassiter's back, the tips if his fingers clutching onto fabric and bringing their bodies closer together. Lassiter bit down again and Shawn took in a sharp breathe, eyes rolling back into his head, he was at that perfect balance between pleasure and pain. Another bite and Shawn was melting. "Oh Lassie…"

Even the way Spencer said his name has Lassiter riled up, he wanted to hear it screamed – repeatedly. He remembered Shawn had sensitive sides, and he wasted no time letting his rough palms slide under the psychic's shirt. Shawn gasped and his breathes started to come in shorter intervals... "Lassie…" Lassiter didn't take his mouth off of Shawn's skin, instead he let it travel town to Shawn's collar bone, leaving little bites and licks along the way. "Oh god Lassie…"

"Shawn?"

Lassiter was so in the zone he didn't notice the third voice enter the room, however he did notice when the third voice became persistent, and he immediately lost his momentum and froze in place. As did Shawn.

"Shawn – Shawn! Are you there? Answer me dammit!"

"Where is that coming from?" Lassiter mouthed to Shawn, and Shawn looked just as confused until it hit him.

"I have no idea…" Shawn whispered, of course then it hit him. "Oh shit that's my dad!"

Lassiter looked around, not quite getting it – Henry wasn't here, was he? He then noted the way Shawn was hurriedly reaching into his jean pocket and he understood. Lassiter was off of Shawn in an instant sitting straight and adjusting his tie, all the while turning about 14 different shades of red. Shawn had his phone out only to confirm what they already figured out.

"I or should I say _we_ accidentally pocket-dialed my dad." Shawn showed Lassiter the screen of his phone only for it to read that a call with 'papa bear' had been ended just seconds before Shawn grabbed his phone.

"At least he had the decency to hang up." It was a weak offer of comfort but it was all Lassiter had. "He could've listened longer – and that would've been fuel for an awkward Christmas."

Shawn blushed a bit – he had been getting increasingly vocal. There was a pretty damn good chance Henry had a pretty good idea what Shawn had been doing – with Lassiter no less. Of course it didn't really matter. Shawn knew his dad and Henry Spencer maybe a lot of things -but prejudice wasn't one of them. Shawn's blush easily turned into laughter. Infectious laughter – Lassiter gave a reluctant chortle but soon Shawn was laughing so much that Lassiter's chortles were also continuous albeit a tad faltering. Lassiter's laugh sounded more like an inverted evil laugh then it did a joyful one. However Shawn could see the light in Lassie's eyes and knew Lassie thought it was funny just as much as he did. No matter how embarrassing.

"Let's just – talk about something else." Shawn couldn't wipe the happy smile off of his face as he tossed his phone onto the coffee table. "Maybe we can get back to kissing a little later, when we're slightly less mortified?"

"Deal." Lassiter said, and he racked his brain trying to figure out where to go from there. He then remembered a detail from earlier that night. "On the phone before, you said you had news?"

Shawn sighed, aw damn. He was hoping to hold off on that for just a little longer. So long happy moment. "I have some information – on my doppelganger case."

Lassiter perked back up, he looked to Shawn and was suddenly a cop. Shawn saw the change immediately and actually gawked a bit. Growing up with his dad he was used to his dad being a cop and always a cop, he used to assume that in order to be a cop you had to sell your humanity. However Lassiter was constantly proving him wrong. He knew who Detective Carlton Lassiter was, but Shawn wanted to go deeper than that. He was suddenly thrilled he was becoming more acquainted with Carlton. Just Carlton. However at this moment Carlton was gone and Detective Lassiter was in full swing demanding details out of Shawn.

"Tell me everything." Lassiter insisted.

"I met someone yesterday at the laundry mat. He recognized me as the victim." Shawn explained, of course in usual Shawn fashion he had to add in random trivia. "Fun fact, my clothes are still dirty."

"That could be vital." Lassiter pressed. "Err- the victim part, not your clothes. What exactly did you do?"

"What do you think I did?" Shawn asked. "I milked it, channeled Derek a little, and talked with the guy. His name is Peter – I didn't get his last name." Inwardly Shawn cursed; he probably should have gotten his last name. "I got a couple snippets of information."

"Okay." Lassiter said. "That information being?"

"There's a second ware house."

Lassiter was up. "Where?"

"On the corner of Brock and Clydedale." Shawn said. "Before you go running out the door, there's one more thing."

"What is it?"

"There's going to be a party there, tomorrow night. Peter said Derek was there last week, along with a lot of the same people who are going tomorrow night. I'm willing to bed our murderer will be. I've been invited to go."

"You're not seriously thinking about going are you?" Lassiter already knew what the answer was, and he already hated it. Detective or not, what just happened between him and Spencer was real and Lassiter was suddenly less willing to have Spencer help with the case in _anyway_.

"I – I think I am." Shawn said. "I was hoping you'd go along; hook me up to a wire or something. If I can lure out Derek's killer it would work so well. We'd be golden."

"You could get hurt." Lassiter said then. "We can't have that."

"It might be the only way." Shawn insisted. "Please?"

"Absolutely not." Lassiter said. He was already forced to fathom the idea of Shawn being killed, he refused to risk that fear becoming a reality. He just had to hope Shawn didn't appeal to the Chief because in the end, it'd be her decision and Shawn had this weird ability to make her say yes to nearly anything.

"Fine." Shawn huffed a bit. "Can I at least come with you to look at the second ware house?"

Lassiter sighed, that he could do. "If it'll get you to stop."

"Great!" Shawn perked up and grabbed his coat.

"Right now?" Lassiter had to ask. Yes a couple seconds ago he was ready to jump out the door too, but now he wasn't so sure.

"Of course!" Shawn said. "The sooner the better, call Jules and Buzz."

Lassiter eventually agreed and the two were leaving Shawn's apartment and making for the second ware house.

"There's no way in hell we're going to find anything here." Lassiter cursed. The floor was littered with plastic cups and beer bottles. The ware house was big enough to hold a lot of people and it showed with the various foot prints that scattered the floor.

"We'll just glance around." Juliet had arrived with McNab just seconds before Lassiter and Shawn. She looked as if she was confused that Lassiter and Shawn had arrived together but if she wanted to ask any questions she refrained. McNab on the other hand didn't seem to notice anything funny at all and was really just there to look around and follow orders. "Try looking for any tight corners, any place where you could easily slip out with a second party unseen." Juliet told him.

"Good plan!" Shawn made his approval known before Lassiter could and strayed off in a random direction. He didn't call Gus – mainly because Gus had begged him not to stick his nose in it and he didn't feel like getting into it with him tonight. He was more interested in finding any potential clues. Shawn glanced around, after a while actually finding a small opening in one of the walls. It was poorly covered with ply wood but the space between the play wood was big enough that someone could easily slip through it. Just barely. So not really thinking about it, Shawn grabbed onto the ply wood and started to pull.

The ply wood came off the wall easier then Shawn anticipated, and Shawn had to back up a bit to keep from falling. He lost grip on the wood and it clattered to the ground making an impressive bang noise. The noise had Lassiter at Shawn's side instantaneously and Shawn would've commented on how adorable that was had it not been for the dust he was now waving out of his face.

"What the hell did you just do Spencer?" It took Lassiter a second, but he eventually noted the opening in the wall Shawn had revealed and didn't think twice about calling O'Hara over.

The nook behind the wall wasn't too big; anyone of normal height would have to squat in order to get in, not that the detectives really wanted to. The floor of the opening was just as dirty as the floor in the main part of the warehouse if not more so. Lassiter noted with strong distaste there was an abundance of used condoms and needles occupying the space.

"Classy with a capital K." Shawn made the comment with a low whistle. "As if drinking in a ware house wasn't dirty enough."

"Real professional Shawn." Juliet mused.

"I try." Shawn grinned. "You know, all these condoms remind me of my sophomore year in college." He was clearly joking, but Lassiter missed the tone.

"That's disgusting Spencer." He shot Shawn a hard look, and Shawn couldn't resist.

"Jealous?"

Juliet actually laughed, but soon the three were distracted by McNab who wandering off by himself had found something else. "Hey guys! Come look at this!"

The three all found McNab in the back of the ware house standing by a stairwell, something the first warehouse didn't have. "Do you think it's safe to climb?" McNab looked curious. Shawn stepped forward.

"I'm on it!" Shawn announced, and even though Lassiter had instinctively reached out to prevent Shawn from doing something stupid, he missed by about half an inch and Shawn was on the stairs. The stairs creaked under his weight, but within seconds Shawn was running up and down the steps. "Steps seem steady…" Of course right when he said that he tripped on his own two feet and slid down a couple steps with an impressive 'eep!' noise and only didn't manage to kill himself because he had been fast enough to grab the rail and stop his impending fall. Shawn laughed nervously. "Probably shouldn't have done that."

McNab chuckled a bit, Juliet crossed her arms, and Lassiter face palmed. He was suddenly remembering that this dancing fool was the same man he had fooled around with not two hours earlier.

_Good lord what was I thinking?_

Of course that didn't change how the detective was feeling, and carrying on he followed the others ip the stairs. The top of the stair case led to a second floor-obviously. However the second floor was a little more interesting than the first floor, being home to a fuse box and even more surprisingly – sound equipment. The equipment was sealed tight under tarps and it all seemed to be intact.

"I would've wondered." Shawn said honestly. "What's a party without music? Willing to bet that fuse box works too. Anyone have rubber gloves?"

"This gives us nothing." Juliet sounded tired. "Just evidence of a party spot, nothing that points to the murder next door."

"Maybe not tonight." Shawn said. He looked to Lassiter apologetically, "But I have a theory."

"Shawn – no." Lassiter made it clear. Like Gus he just wasn't hearing it.

Juliet looked between the two men – had she missed something? "Shawn?"

"More of a plan then a theory, but I need consent – and back up."

"The station." Juliet insisted then. "Let's go back to the station and you can tell me everything."

"Sounds great Jules." Shawn smiled, and Juliet grabbed McNab and ushered him out of the ware house, before Shawn could follow Lassiter had him by the arm.

"Why are you doing this?" Lassiter needed to know. "There's no guarantee, you can get seriously injured – or worse." Lassiter couldn't control the fact that his voice was pleading; he really didn't want Shawn to do this.

Shawn looked Lassiter dead in the eye, and suddenly Lassiter was seeing a new side of Shawn – a side that was a little deeper then what he was used too or even expecting. Needless to say it cut Lassiter off, Lassiter still didn't agree but the cop inside him understood and he couldn't argue. The cop inside him was the new side of Shawn that Lassiter was seeing now – he was seeing the cop Shawn should've always been. It was oddly chilling.

"I'm doing this, to catch a murderer. End of story."


	8. Uncertain

**A/N: **This chapter isn't as long as the others, and maybe not as good. However it's a re-write of a re-write so hopefully well worth the wait. Reviews are always encouraged! Enjoy!

~Matilda.

**Uncertain**

Catching a murderer was easier said than done, but still Shawn was willing to try. Within hours of explaining to Jules what exactly he wanted to do and he was in the chief's office making his appeal to her.

Lassiter and Juliet were waiting for word by Lassiter's desk. Lassiter already knew what the decision would be, but still he had some hope. Juliet on the other hand was a bit eager; she was more on the job then Lassiter was in this scenario and was looking forward to cuffing a killer.

"Do you think it'll take long for the chief to agree?"

"Not long." Lassiter said tiredly. "Though I wish she wouldn't."

"Why?" Juliet got curious. "Shawn's capable."

"Do you have any idea how crowded this party might be?" Lassiter asked. "Even if Shawn does run into the murderer, what are the chances we can get in on time and get passed the crowd?"

"Maybe." Juliet pointed out. "It doesn't mean we shouldn't try."

Lassiter groaned a bit, O'Hara was right however Lassiter couldn't shake the feeling of uncertainty. He was really convinced that something was going to go horribly wrong. If he could talk Shawn out of doing this he would. It wasn't long before Shawn and the chief were sauntering over to Lassiter's desk and Lassiter stood as if he we were expecting a death sentence. "Well?"

"Mr. Spencer will be going to the ware house tonight; we're assisting him with a wire hook up and a backup team. Detectives, you'll be going with him. McNab and a few others will be on standby ready to join you should the occasion arise." The chief made her words very clear. Once she was done speaking, she returned to her office instructing O'Hara and Lassiter to only come to her if necessary.

Juliet agreed, and surprisingly so did Lassiter. He had fully expected Shawn to be sent into the party alone. The fact that he wasn't made Lassiter feel so much better – now he had an entire day to figure out a game plan, and to mentally brace himself for the coming evening. When the Chief left, Juliet followed her to ask a few questions, and once they were gone Shawn was the first to speak whilst looking Lassiter over skeptically.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Not as much as I thought I'd be." Lassiter admitted. "I'm more okay now that O'Hara and I are going in with you."

Shawn smiled. "I know, the Chief already panned it out for me. I'm really hoping this all works out."

"You and I both." Lassiter replied. Shawn looked around then, making sure there were no prying eyes and leaning forward he gave Lassiter a quick kiss.

"Meet back here at 9 to get me suited up?" Shawn asked.

Lassiter kissed back. "I suppose – where are you going?"

"To meet Gus." Shawn said. "I have to explain what's going on; he already hates me for coming up with this idea. Not telling him I'm going through with it and he'd never speak to me again."

"Fair enough." Lassiter said. "You'll be back here by 9."

"Nine." Shawn promised. "See you at 9 Lassie." Turning, he left then, and Lassiter was promptly up deciding it was best to go home and get some sleep before that night. He wasn't even half way through the door when Marcus was coming up the steps.

"The hell are you doing here?"

Didn't this guy play the lawyer card? Lassiter took a quick look around the station, seeing only the usual uniforms and a couple other detectives. Not one attorney.

"I'm sorry detective." Marcus said. "I'm here because I want to change my statement. Regarding my whereabouts on the 7th – I wasn't entirely honest with you."

No kidding, Lassiter already knew that. He had to keep from rolling his eyes. Also he had to keep from lunging at the other man; a couple days from seeing him, and learning his story and Lassiter still felt the need to clock him one on Shawn's behalf. He couldn't though – at least not in the station. "Alright, follow me." Lassiter motioned for Marcus to join him in the interrogation room.

"I can't officially change your statement." Lassiter told him. "I can only take a new one."

"Fair enough." Marcus looked as uncomfortable as Lassiter felt. Lassiter watched as Marcus sat down and started playing his fingers against the table like it were a piano. He was nervous.

"The 7th." Lassiter prompted. "Tell me about the 7th."

"I was at a party that night. Down in the warehouses by Clyedale."

So far that matched up. Lassiter urged Marcus to continue. "Then what happened?"

"I was really out of it, depressed. Someone my age at some; run down, drug infested ware house, and surrounded by people 10-15 years younger than me. That's when I started drinking."

Lassiter breathed a second, and he gave a silent little prayer that Marcus might confess to the killing after all. Save him and the others a whole lot of trouble. "Do you remember anything at all about that night?"

"Well after about 6 shots and a beer, I was feeling better about myself." Marcus told him. "Usual side effect of alcohol, I still didn't like where I was though. I decided to go home."

"But you didn't." Lassiter pressed. "Let me guess, this is about the time you ran into our victim isn't it?"

"He was there." Marcus confided. "It just sort of happened. He came over to me. Told me a few guys he was with bet $50 he couldn't kiss 10 strangers by the end of the night. Then he kissed me."

_Marcus was really drunk, and really confused. Though at that moment in time he didn't particularly care – he was getting some action, and really that's all that mattered. Warm lips and soft hands touched him, and he responded eagerly. It had been so long since he's been with someone else. _

_The music of the warehouse throbbed against his ear drums in a constant mantra, and his body moved along with the beat. His arms locked around the other man and pulled him closer. Sooner than later however and Marcus needed to breathe. He pulled away and took a deep breathe. His eyes slid open to glance at his companion. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. _

"_Shawn?"_

_Shawn looked at him with a confused look on his face, the look soon turned into mischief and Shawn grinned. "Is that who I am?"_

"_Yes." _

"_Then I'm Shawn." Shawn hooked his hands over Marcus' hips and carried on kissing the older man. Marcus got lost in ecstasy. He couldn't believe it, he was kissing Shawn again. Shawn was in his arms. He held on as tight as he could until eventually he needed air again. This time when he pulled away he tried to think of the best way he could tell Shawn how much he missed him._

"_I kept the letter opener."_

"_What are you talking about?" Shawn took a step back. _

"_The letter opener." Marcus explained. "I kept it; I carry it with me everywhere. I think about you every day."_

"_Uh…" Now Shawn was really taking a step back. "That's cool – I guess."_

"_You have no idea how much I hate myself Shawn. I sit by the phone some nights and spend hours debating on whether or not to call you."_

"_Okay!" Shawn quipped. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're crazy. So I'm going to go now, thanks for helping me make an easy $50 – and chow." _

"_Wait!" Marcus didn't want to watch him leave, not again. "I'm sorry."_

_Shawn turned to look at him, a brow quirked. Marcus without really thinking pulled out the letter opener, he wasn't lying when he said he took it everywhere. Not anymore. He pressed it into Shawn's hand. "Keep it please."_

_Shawn took the opener looking more confused than he ever had. "Okay. I'm out."_

_Shawn left then, and Marcus had to watch him leave. Dammit. He should've kept the opener, now he had nothing of Shawn left. Drunk and miserable, he decided to go home. He forced himself to turn away from Shawn's retreated form and leave, not catching that Shawn had carelessly dropped to letter opener on the ground and left it unattended. Only to have it picked up by someone else._

"Not even two days later and Shawn was at my house, asking questions about a murder… I didn't know what to say. By the time I sobered up it clicked in my head that it wasn't him at the ware house. I thought that if I told him I was there and had actually been with the victim he'd get mad at me. Find a way to bend it so that I was guilty when I'm not. The only thing I'm guilty of is letting him get under my skin. I've tried letting go. I've been with other people since but none of them… There's no other way to say it. Shawn was the one."

Lassiter had heard enough, hitting this guy – was not the answer. Never the answer. The detective gritted his teeth and took a second to picture himself running Marcus down with his car. He held up his hand. "Enough with the pity party." Lassiter said. "You're just saying, that yes you were on Clyedale that night, yes you saw the victim, no you didn't stab him. Fine. That's all you came to say."

"Yes." Marcus explained. "That's all I came to say."

"Okay." Lassiter gritted his teeth one more time. He couldn't exactly book this guy with no solid proof now could he? Damn. He couldn't hit him either. Double damn. "You're free to go, get the hell out of my face." He was however free to kick Marcus out of the station and out of his hair. Thank god.

When Marcus left, Lassiter had trouble re-gaining a confident composure. He'd never been the jealous type before but when Marcus so boldly stated he wasn't over Shawn – Lassiter actually saw red. It was an odd experience the detective almost didn't get a grasp on, which would've been bad for Marcus.

Of course that meant that Lassiter didn't completely believe Marcus' new statement. Call him biased, but he was more than half convinced that Marcus did more than mistake Derek's identity. All he had to do was prove it. A glance at his watch showed he still had time to go home and rest. Still Marcus' change of statement had Lassiter feeling even more uneasy. Not really thinking about it he dialed Shawn as he headed for his car.

"Lassie-face!" Shawn answered on the second ring. "It's barely been an hour – miss me already?"

"Har har." Lassiter replied lowly. "Listen Shawn, right after you left I had a run in with your friend Marcus. He gave me some interesting factoids about the night of the 7th."

"Marcus confessed?"

"Not to the murder, he confessed to being at that party – and being with the victim."

Shawn made a 'hmm'sound. "Too bad we can't arrest someone on the basis of close enough."

"You're telling me."Lassiter commented. "In either case, I thought I'd call and warn you. He's back at the top of my suspect list."

"I don't know sweety." Shawn added. "As temperamental as Marcus could be in the past, I still doubt he's capable of murder – at least not intentional murder. That stab wound was way too pacific to be an accident."

"It astonishes me that you're protecting him." Lassiter grumbled a bit. "Also – sweety? Not flying with me Spencer."

"Aww but sweety…" Shawn teased. "Okay look, how I do my investigating is very different from how you do yours. It's unconventional – yes, but it gets the job done. Marcus is an ass, we agree there. Hell I'm the first one to say it, but a murderer? That's a pretty serious accusation aimed at someone whose only crime is staying in the closet well into his 30's, and being too embarrassed to talk about it."

Lassiter sighed. "I suppose …It still won't shock me if he is though."

"Thank you sweety." Shawn smiled into his receiver.

"Don't call me sweety." Lassiter sounded just a little agitated, but it didn't quite reach the same level as it normally did – Shawn had an inkling that Lassiter actually liked the endearing term.

"I'll see you at nine Lassiefrass."

Shawn hung up his cell, an unmistakable grin gracing his features. Gus who was sitting on the other side of the booth gave Shawn a frown.

"Since when do you call detective Lassiter sweety?"

"Since today."Shawn happily announced. "He's worried about the ware house party tonight. I'm not though; it's no different than some of the stuff we've done before."

"Not even three days ago and you were happily throwing the towel in on this case." Gus pointed out. "Now you're all over it."

"A factoid I happily thank that Peter guy for. Where ever he may be." Shawn raised his glass in toast.

"I'm still worried."Gus pointed out.

"Don't be!" Shawn said. "I'm a fearless crusader! That and I have Lassie and Jules backing me up. First one to make a move that's a little more than flirty and he's cuffed. We bring him in for questioning and if all plays well he'll be our murderer. Case solved."

Gus still wasn't convinced. "You could get hit on either not at all tonight, or all the time. How are you going to know which one to cuff?"

Shawn frowned a bit. "Well I imagine he'll be more persistent than anyone else who might try and talk me up. Also remember we're looking for a man who thinks I'm already dead – so his reaction to my face will be one of shock, possibly anger, maybe fear if I convince the chief to let me wear zombie makeup."

Gus frowned some, and poured himself another glass of soda. "Zombie or not -I'm still mad you're going through with this."

"I'll be fine." Shawn insisted one more time. Though truthfully he was a little concerned, Lassie seemed more worried than usual and even Gus was acting antsy. Shawn almost started to second guess his game plan, but then he remembered that Derek died – maybe because of him, and that seemed to drive his decision to go through it. "When it's all over, we'll kick back and have a beer. My place, you pick the movie."

"The Replacements?" Gus tried.

"Uh…." Shawn answered. "Keanu Reeves yes, football no. One more try."

"Bill and Ted marathon?"Gus asked.

"Yes!"Answered Shawn. "Absolutely yes!"

The two best friends then clinked their glasses together. It was a man-date.

Now all Shawn had to do was make sure the following evening went exactly as planned, or prove unsuccessful. God forbid this feeling of uncertainty reveals to be the foreshadowing of something more sinister.


	9. Worthless

**A/N – PLEASE READ! : **Before we move on with the chapter, a couple things. First off – I recently joined a Shassie group on DA, and for this group I created a Shassie forum. It's only a few days old and only has a few members; so I'm extending an invitation out to all my fellow Shassie fans! The homepage link can be found in my profile!

Secondly – This chapter has some...things in it... Things that even I as the author felt uncomfortable writing. It's **not** in any way x-rated but it does borderline on rapey. If this type of content makes you uncomfortable then please don't read it!

Alright, I've said my peace! Hopefully I see you on the forum and as always reviews are welcome!

~Matilda

**Worthless**

Shawn had been to a lot of parties in his 20's, hell – back then he was practically the life of everyone he attended. Or so he was told – being the guy who usually ended up in the pool fully clothed was a good thing -right? Right?

Whatever the answer, none of those parties was quite like this. The warehouse was packed and practically bursting at the seams. Shawn could manoeuvre through the crowd just barely and he was by himself. He could only imagine how hard of a time Lassie and Jules must be having, and they were on orders to stick together.

"Wonderful." Shawn mused to himself, this plan was already failing. The wire Lassie had hooked him up to? Worthless, there was no way any words spoken to him would be heard over the pounding club music. Still...it had been fun getting it on...

Earlier when Shawn got to the station, Lassie and Jules were already there waiting for him. Along with the Chief, McNab, and another uniform he didn't recognize.

"Alright Mr. Spencer." The Chief ordered. "Detective Lassiter is going to hook you up, he and detective O'Hara are going to escort you to ware house. Don't make any contact with them while inside – you are to appear alone."

"Got it." Shawn gave a salute.

"McNab – Riley, you two are going to be outside on stakeout." The Chief continued. "The first sign of danger, and detective Lassiter and O'Hara will call you in for back up."

"No problem Chief!" McNab sounded extremely happy to be on this job, and Riley who looked just a little older then McNab just nodded like he had done this sort of thing before.

"Full report on my desk by tomorrow." The Chief aimed that order at Lassiter and O'Hara. "Detective Lassiter-"

Lassie perked had perked up at mention of his name. "Chief?"

"Help Mr. Spencer with the wire." The Chief handed Lassiter the necessary equipment before making her exit.

Shawn was ecstatic by that last order, and he quickly decided to have fun with this experience. "Guys?" Shawn asked. "A little privacy?"

The other three obliged, and had left to go wait outside. Shawn wasted no time – he lifted up his t-shirt and turned ever so slightly giving Lassiter a full view of his torso. "So!" Shawn gave a flirty smile. "How do we do this?"

Lassiter swallowed a bit, and shamefully let his eyes sweep over Shawn's bare form. It was just a wire. Lassiter was only putting a wire on him. Wires weren't supposed to be sexy! Lassiter forced himself to think. "The front." Lassiter said. Shawn turned then, and lifted his shirt higher – he purposely let the fabric of his t-shirt graze over his nipples, much to Lassiter's dismay.

"I call this pose 'the situation'" Shawn flexed his stomach a bit. Lassiter squeezed his eyes shut – wasn't he supposed to be doing something right then? ...Oh yeah the wire! Lassiter had to find a way to make this less sexy so he could get his job done.

"I could've sworn that pose was called the prison bitch." Lassiter retorted lowly. Shawn's reaction was to lift his t- shirt just a little higher and step closer to the detective.

"Am I dirty prison bitch detective?" The way Shawn said the words, had given the detective some pretty intense imagery, derailing Spencer hadn't exactly gone as planned. "Is that how you see me? Roughed up and in hand cuffs? Bent helplessly over the hood of your car?"

Lassiter pursed his lips. Dammit all. "Spencer, we have a job to do." Lassiter said it mostly to remind himself, not Shawn.

"I've been standing here waiting." Shawn said lowly – he wasn't letting up. "Lay it on me already Lassie."

Lassiter swallowed – fucking Spencer. Taking a long breath Lassiter finally closed the gap between him and Shawn and pressed the wire to his chest. Shawn flinched.

"Cold." Shawn purred a bit. He was really enjoying himself. Lassiter did not approve. He gave Shawn a hard look.

"We're working Spencer."

"I know." Shawn acted innocent. "Just saying the wire was cold."

"Bullshit." Lassiter muttered, and without really realizing it he started playing Spencer's game. Flattening the wire to Shawn's torso thoroughly, pushing his hands firmly against Shawn's skin as he did so –ensuring that the wire was flat and unnoticeable.

Shawn's eyes slid closed, wire or no wire – Lassie's rough hands travelling his body? So good. It was brief, as Lassiter was a little more determined to get the job done then Shawn was, but the way Lassiter had attached the wire had Shawn aching for so much more. "What I wouldn't give to get you alone right now." Shawn breathed.

Lassiter winced a bit; honestly he felt the same way. However he was annoyed that Shawn had the nerve to play him so easily when he was supposed to be on duty. "Later Spencer."Lassiter used a warning tone. Shawn smiled.

"Promise?"

Goddammit.

"We have to get going." Lassiter left first, having to try and shake the last 3 minutes out of his head.

It didn't happen. Even now at the warehouse, Lassiter stood idly by with O'Hara watching Shawn like a hawk. He understood that the whole point of tonight was to get people to approach Shawn – but Lassiter didn't think it'd be this hard to watch. Whatever Lassiter was seeing in Shawn, it seemed others saw it to and Lassiter had trouble keeping his cover as left right and center people passed Shawn. Most of them giving him the up-down.

It was going to be a long night.

Shawn had to agree there, a long night indeed. From the moment Shawn found a spot that wasn't so congested, he was approached by strangers from all different directions. Mostly girls, but even a couple guys stopped and asked Shawn if they could get him a drink. Shawn kindly refused them all, so far no one acted like they recognized him. Damn. He could see from the corner of his eyes Lassie watching him, and he grinned – getting the overwhelming feeling that maybe Lassie was jealous. Why wouldn't he be? Considering the type of relationship they were starting to develop. Shawn idly touched his hand to his chest, his skin still burning from where Lassie had touched him placing down the wire. What a fun three minutes that had been, looking over to the detective and Shawn could see Lassie take one deep breathe signifying that – yeah, he was thinking of the wire to.

"Derek!"

Shawn was so caught up looking to Lassie that he didn't notice Peter from the laundry mat approach him from the side.

"Derek!"

The second time Peter called to him, and Shawn snapped at attention, he could barely hear Peter over the music of the place – he looked to Peter apologetically and shrugged.

"This place is so loud!" Shawn yelled to him.

"I know!" Peter screamed back. "It's great for dancing!"

"It sure is!" Shawn shouted his agreement. He was a little put off then when Peter stepped closer to him, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Lassiter.

"We got a live one." Lassiter leaned close to O'Hara's ear so he didn't have to yell. "Don't let him out of your site."

Truthfully Lassiter didn't think it was going to be a problem, for him anyway. He was already taking in how this guy talked to Shawn with such ease. Lassiter was waiting for him to make a move that was a little too friendly – he temporarily forgot he was on a job, and actually found himself almost wanting this guy to try and touch Shawn. Just so Lassiter could march up and punch him. So far though, Peter had done nothing but create less space between him and the psychic.

"I didn't think you'd come." Peter was close enough to Shawn's ear now that Shawn could hear him just fine.

"I almost didn't." Shawn lied. "Long week – pretty tired."

"I hear you." Peter said. "Work blows!"

"It sure does!" Shawn agreed. Peter didn't seem to be showing any negative signs, now Shawn had to try and persuade him to leave. "I have to go find my friend!" Shawn announced. "I'll catch you later!"

He made to leave, but was a little surprised when Peter grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Why the rush?" Peter asked, "I'm sure your friend's fine." His grip was unusually tight. "Have a drink man."

Shawn felt a little uneasy, and looking up he could see Lassie and Jules already pushing closer getting ready to grab Peter if needed. "Seriously Peter, I'll catch you later."

Shawn watched as Peter seemed to think over his answer, whatever he was debating took a lot of thought. Thankfully however Peter obliged and let go of Shawn's arm. "Later." Peter agreed.

Shawn sighed in relief; he could see that Lassie had sighed in relief to. He gave Lassie and Jules a light nod, just to tell them he was okay. Looking to his watch he saw that he had only been in the warehouse for roughly an hour – he decided another hour would be long enough. Weaving through the crowd he decided to try a new area, hoping that someone else would approach him.

Lassiter and O'Hara were close behind, doing their best to stay within reasonable reach of Shawn. As time went on though it got a little harder as more people seemed to show up at the warehouse. Lassiter had to wonder who could enjoy coming to a place like this? The air was pungent with the smell of sweat perfume, and the music was so loud that if Lassiter wanted to say something to O'Hara he had to yell in her ear. This sort of atmosphere couldn't be healthy. After all, it had been this atmosphere that got Derek Atkinson killed had it not?

"Hey!"

Lassiter had his eyes on Shawn, and was a little caught up in his own thoughts that he hardly noticed that some girl had blocked her path. She was a short brunette, with long hair and wide eyes – eyes that were glazed over and slightly red. She was high.

"I'm Nancy!" The girl introduced herself, and dressed in tight jeans and a shirt that showed more cleavage then necessary – she made no hesitation in invading Lassiter's bubble. "You should buy me a drink!"

"No thank you." Lassiter had his attention to the girl now, and he was ignoring the fact she was high and gently pushing her aside so he could keep moving.

"Aww one drink." The girl now known as Nancy pouted. "I'm really thirsty."

She was becoming persistent but thankfully O'Hara was there to back him up. She was on Nancy instantly, expertly sliding her arm in a loop around Lassiter's. "He's spoken for."

Nancy again pouted, her conquest foiled. She gave Juliet a stern look over. "You're too fat for him." Then Nancy was gone. Juliet mouth hung agape.

"She just called me fat!" In disbelief she took her arm out of Lassiter's still gaping. "That bitch just called me fat!"

Lassiter fought back a laugh, oh that was funny. His urge to laugh though quickly turned into the urge to panic as he looked up and realized they had lost sight of Shawn.

Shit! How long had that Nancy girl been bothering him for? 1 maybe 2 minutes? "We lost him!" Lassiter yelled to O'Hara. The two detectives were back on track now, hurriedly looking around to try and get Shawn back under their gaze.

Shawn hadn't really noticed that Lassie and Jules weren't exactly on his tail anymore; he was too busy looking ahead. Trying to see if anyone who looked to him recognized him as 'Derek' surely this Peter guy wasn't the only one Derek had been with that night?

Maybe he was? The realization seemed to hit Shawn. Peter was a suspect, dammit. Shawn let him slip away. ..Or so he thought.

It happened so fast, large hands planted firmly on either side of Shawn's hips pulling Shawn's back end to rest rather uncomfortably against something that was a little too pointy for his comfort.

"Did you find your friend?" Peter leaned in close, practically burying his head in the crook of Shawn's neck. Shawn tried to step forward to put some space between him and the other man, Peter's response being to pull Shawn closer, grinding his pelvis very suggestively against Shawn's backside.

Shawn clenched his jaw – ah shit, a quick look around revealed that Lassie and Jules weren't anywhere close by. Of all the rotten timing... "Let me go." Shawn warned.

"Why?" Peter mused, and keeping Shawn pinned against him he started moving them, forcing Shawn to walk along side him until he pinned Shawn between him and a wall. "You had no trouble last week." Peter tightened his grip on Shawn's hips. "Last week you begged for it even."

Oh this wasn't happening. The second Shawn's chest pressed against the wall and Peter was talking to him like he owned him, and Shawn's brain kicked into survivor mode. Shawn jerked his head back, bashing it as hard against Peter's face as he could. Luckily it worked, and taken aback Peter had grabbed his face in pain taking a step back. Shawn didn't take the time to examine his own pain from the collision; he took the time to get out from between Peter and the wall. He staggered forward heading back towards the crowd but found the wall of people was too thick – before he even had a chance to break through Peter had recovered.

Peter lunged and again grabbing Shawn's arm he twisted it behind Shawn's back. As Shawn winced in pain, he gave the surrounding crowd a good look over – no one was watching them. He remembered once when he was kid, his father telling him 'the more people around – the less help you get.' Shawn hadn't believed him – he always assumed someone would step in and save him if something like this ever happened. Seems he was wrong. A pit started to form in Shawn's stomach, and he struggled as hard as he could when once again Peter pulled their bodies together. This time when Peter leaned in to talk Shawn could feel blood dripping from Peter's nose onto the side of Shawn's face and neck.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Peter snapped in his ear. "You're going to pay for that you stupid whore!"

Shawn wasn't going down without a fight, no way no how – he was a Spencer after all. Peter twisted his arm tighter, Shawn's response? To throw his leg back in a kick to give Peter a good sharp jab in the shin. Peter screeched a bit and hopped, lifting his injured leg back but he didn't let go of Shawn. Instead he reached around, grabbing the front of Shawn's belt and starting to undo it.

"We're playing rough are we?" Peter asked the question in a mocking tone, and he even laughed cruelly when he pulled Shawn's belt out of his belt loops. Shawn used his free hand to reach behind him and start violently yanking on Peter's hair.

Lassiter had no idea is he and O'Hara were anywhere close to Shawn, and the feeling of uncertainty he had pretty much all day was starting to bubble over. He had to find him. Lassiter unhooked the walkie talkie he had attached to his pants and didn't hesitate on calling in McNab and Riley. As soon as the two officers confirmed they were moving in, Lassiter changed the frequency of the device and held it to his ear hoping maybe the wire Shawn was wearing was picking anything up. Anything at all that might tell the detectives where Shawn had gotten too.

Pulling Peter's hair hadn't worked as well as Shawn had hoped, Peter disturbingly enjoyed the sensation and he responded by gliding his hand up and down one of Shawn's thighs. Shawn became increasingly tense. He was doing his best to keep calm – of course that notion failed when Peter used Shawn's belt to bind his hands behind his back. A good amount of bile worked its way into Shawn's throat, Peter wasn't letting him go – and his hands were becoming more and more intrusive. Peter used one hand to keep Shawn's head perfectly still to keep from another head bashing, but the other hand was travelling, up Shawn's thigh, past his pelvis and under his shirt. The way Peter pressed his bare hand against Shawn's skin was nothing like the way Lassie had touched him – this was _wrong. _Peter's hand caressed and squeezed his sides almost making Shawn want to cry, not that he was going to. Finally though, Shawn felt it – the wire, Peter had run his hand across the wire and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What the fuck!" Peter gave Shawn a hard shove forward, uncaring that Shawn nearly collided with about two people, who seemed to dance by him uncaring. "You're a fucking cop! ?"

If Peter was going to say something else – he got abruptly cut off. He went down pretty fast much to Shawn's surprise. Peter landed in a worthless heap, Lassie standing over him with the butt of his gun still mid-air.

Shawn was just starting to notice that for the most part he had been holding his breath, and he started breathing heavier. Shawn didn't pray very much – but oh thank god! He broke into a relieved laughter, as Juliet who was just a foot behind Lassiter rushed passed the older detective and made haste in getting the belt off from around Shawn's wrists.

Lassiter wasn't sure what had happened to him, and he didn't think he wanted to know. He and O'hara had looked high and low for Spencer and when they found him... Lassiter had seen red. That man whoever he was...was touching Shawn. Not even caring of the people dancing around them – he wasn't taking no for an answer, and Lassiter had seen him putting his hands where they didn't belong, it was infuriating. Thank god for the wire, even though Lassiter had failed to hear anything from it, it did provide service. That guy hadn't been happy about finding it, and he pushed Shawn away giving Lassiter the chance he needed to lunge at the dirt bag and take him out.

Juliet finished untying Shawn, the second Shawn could move his own hands again he went right over to Peter – emotions were consuming him. Mostly angry ones and whether he was permitted to or not he was getting a damn shot or two in. He wanted to give Peter one good swift kick in the stomach, but his attempt failed when McNab and Riley had arrived. Riley lifted Peter off the ground like he was nothing and cuffed him. Lassiter shouted at them both to get Peter out of the warehouse but moved to follow. Gently he took Shawn's arm and motioned for Shawn and O'Hara to follow him.

"We're done here!" Lassiter didn't make it a question. In his mind he wanted to get the hell out of the warehouse, they had a man in custody and that's what they had originally set out to do. So Lassiter had no problem removing himself and the others from the scene.

Breaking through the crowd Shawn noticed was easier when you were following behind two officers in uniform. They exited the warehouse in record timing, and Shawn watched in an indescribable glee as McNab and Riley forced Peter into the back of their police vehicle.

"Shawn." Juliet had come to stand next to him; he could hear everything just fine now that they were outside and away from the music. "You're okay – right?"

"Hmm?" Shawn took a second to respond, he was busy watching the police car drive away. Eventually he looked to Jules and then Lassie who were both looking at him and waiting for an answer. "Oh yeah, I'm good. It could've been so much worse – so no worries." Shawn gave a careless shrug.

"No worries?" Lassiter sounded distressed by this. "Spencer what the hell! That man – just – just tried to...and no worries? !"

"Carlton." Jules was on him right away. "If Shawn says he's fine, I believe him – try to stay calm."

"Yeah Lassie." Shawn was back on his feet, and he moved over to the detective to give him a thorough look over. Lassiter was watching every little move Shawn made, like at any moment Shawn would drop dead on them, and he still clutched his gun to the point where his knuckles were white. Lassie had been terrified on Shawn's behalf. It was twisted, but Shawn was comforted by this. He resisted the urge the give Lassiter a knowing kiss in front of Jules. "I'm okay." Shawn made the statement a promise. "Let's just get out of here okay?"

Lassiter was tired, tired, and anxious – what was he freaking out over? That man hadn't gotten too far, and they were right. Shawn was fine now. He agreed with Shawn and soon the three were on route back to the station. When they got there, Lassiter wanted nothing more than to get Shawn alone, even if for just a second but the time wouldn't allow it. Shawn and O'Hara made way to the chief's office to give her the low down of what happened, and Lassiter had to follow protocol getting McNab and Riley to take Peter straight to the interrogation room.

"If you're going to throw me in for assault, fine – do it. But I didn't kill anybody!"

Peter made that claim, over and over again. The more Lassiter grilled him for information, the more resistant he became.

"You were with Derek Atkinson the night he was killed." Lassiter reminded him. "You admit to fraternizing with him, and based on your track record – it probably wasn't as mutual as you make it out to be. Now the only question left, is where exactly you got that letter opener."

"I didn't kill anybody!" Peter hollered. "Derek was a slut, he agreed to kissing random strangers for money. For money! He was more of a whore actually, by the end of the night he was coming onto me!"

"Yet somehow – I still don't believe you." Lassiter snarled. Like Marcus before Lassiter had no problem with the idea of throwing himself across the table and giving Peter a good bashing. However Peter looked more panic stricken then Marcus had, and was even sweating a little. Call Lassiter cruel but he was enjoying this. "I bet any money Derek fought back, probably got in a good few shots too. You weren't giving up easy though were you? You dragged him to that other warehouse, you forced him to climb up onto that platform – and when he still struggled you took that letter opener and stabbed him right in the throat!"

"I didn't kill him!"

Peter's outburst was loud, and unwelcome. Silence stretched between him and the detective, Lassiter had watched him squirm enough. "Maybe after a few days in a holding cell you'll be more akin to talking." He raised his hand then and motioned for the officer standing by to take Peter out of his site.

"Where's Spencer?" That was the first question out of Lassiter's mouth when he returned to the main floor of the station.

"He offered to get us coffee." Juliet answered from her desk. "Said it was the least he could do after earlier."

"Alright." Without really thinking about it, Lassiter grabbed his coat. "I'm going to go meet him – we'll back shortly." He left then, and made his way to the closest coffee shop – he didn't make it there, as Shawn must've left a little while ago and was already on route back carrying at least 5 coffees via one of those portable plastic cup holders.

"Lassie!" Shawn greeted. "How'd you do with Peter?"

"He's in holding." Lassiter announced. "Need help carrying those?"

"I'm okay." Shawn said. "You can walk with me though and tell me how adorable you think gremlins are."

"I hated that movie." Lassiter frowned.

"Oh well." Shawn used a sing-song voice and continued walking. They came over to a park bench, and Shawn seemed to take the opportunity long before Lassiter noticed. He put the coffees down.

"Spencer what are you-.." Lassiter got cut off, Shawn was hugging him.

"I don't want you to worry." Shawn said. "The strained eyes, the white knuckles – it doesn't suit you Lassie. Seriously, not at all."

Lassiter's response was to hug back; he ran his fingers lightly through Shawn's hair and just – held him there. After awhile, Shawn was up on his tippy toes giving Lassiter a kiss. Lassiter kissed back, softly. He hadn't realized that he had been shaking, but the kissing seemed to help it stop immediately and Lassiter felt normal again. When they pulled apart Shawn was grinning ear to ear.

"Have dinner with me tonight." Shawn urged. "Anything you want, just us – please?"

Lassiter didn't need to be asked, he just gave Shawn another long gentle kiss.

"Oh for the love of god...Are you kidding me?"

Henry's voice AGAIN broke them up, only this time it wasn't coming out of Shawn's phone. Lassiter – embarrassed pulled away from Shawn and gave a weak sounding... "Uhh...no?"

Shawn was too wide eyed to say anything. Henry just shook his head.

"Seriously."Henry quipped. "I don't care if you're straight, gay or tentacle monsters, PDA is just disturbing." Henry left then, in long strides back towards the station leaving Lassiter and Shawn to exchange confused looks.

"How the hell does your dad do that Spencer?"

"Dude..."Shawn was coming to. "Did my dad just say tentacle monster?"


	10. Brick Wall

**A/N: **So yeah, it's been awhile – I'm so terribly sorry! I've been so busy lately that fanfiction just hasn't been a priority, how horrible! I should be tied to a post and stoned for such blasphemy! Haha, anyway I hope this chapter makes up for the long unexpected hiatus, and as usual reviews are encouraged!

~Matilda

**P.S**

Don't forget, if you're a big fan of Shassie you need to join my forum '**Shassie Love Letters.' **We're a small community, but I would love for us to be a big community! The link is set up as my homepage, just visit my profile and have a click see!

**Brick Wall**

"Dad!"

After running into Henry on the street, Shawn was a bit perplexed and breaking away from Lassiter had followed his dad right back to the police station. "What are you doing here?"

"Karen called me." Henry explained. "Said you had a rough night, figured it'd be best if I came by to make sure you were okay."

Oh lordy, Shawn's head spun a bit. The last thing he wanted to do was explain to his dad that he was assaulted – Shawn was content in the fact Lassie had saved him, he wasn't so sure about his dad sadly.

"You seem okay now." Henry said then. "Carlton looks like he has things covered." The smug look Henry gave Shawn then had Shawn hitting the breaks in defensive mode.

"Ha...ha." Shawn quipped. "But yes, I'm okay now. Lassie has it covered, and the case is almost over with...so everything's good."

"Good." Henry repeated. "Now what aren't you telling me?"

Shawn grumbled under his breath, he imagined telling his dad would be like something out of the twilight zone. He'd say 'dad last night during my mission I was sexually assaulted and almost raped' and Henry would just look at him blankly with an unmoving 'oh.' Before getting up to leave, it was the last thing Shawn wanted.

"Everything's fine dad." Shawn urged. "Seriously – fine."

"You're a terrible liar." Henry pointed out. "I can read you like a book Shawn."

His dad was interrogating him? Really? Even using old methods. Shawn chewed on the inside of his cheek. It wasn't going to work. Not even a little he decided.

"Oh really." Shawn challenged, and he leaned in close to his father. "Then read me. What aren't I telling you?"

There was a moment of silence, both Spencer's staring each other down, Henry trying to analyze his son like a science project and Shawn never breaking face, refusing to let Henry in.

Lassiter and Juliet were off to side and they were watching the whole thing, Lassiter had never seen Henry so – determined to make Shawn say anything and Shawn looked as if this tension between them was nothing new. It was downright scary. The tension continued to grow.

"Oh for goodness sakes!" Juliet was the first to break under the tension. "Mr. Spencer, Shawn helped us with a stake out last night – that's all. There really was nothing to it."

Lassiter shot Juliet a stare, he had been certain the younger detective was about to spill the whole story, which he knew right off the bat Shawn didn't want shared. When Juliet didn't spill the beans however Lassiter breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Okay." Henry caved in – Juliet always having that sweet little effect on him. "I won't ask questions, but Shawn – if it was something really bad, you'd tell me right?"

Shawn paused, and pretended to be interested in a spot on the wall.

"Shawn!" Henry repeated. "Right?"

"Hmm...what?" Shawn shrugged. "Sure dad, totally..." He chuckled nervously.

Henry gave an exasperated sigh. "Then I guess I'll just go home." He was up then and getting ready to make his leave, he stopped for a moment and gave Lassiter a mini stare down. "Carlton." He said Lassiter's name in warning, and considering what Henry had just seen Lassiter was willing to bet it was subtext for '_hurt him and I'll kill you._' Lassiter could actually feel hair on the back of his neck rise up. Henry was gone then, and Shawn was looking to Lassiter apologetically.

"You could've told your dad." Juliet said lightly then. "We have Peter in custody so it's not like you have to worry about him."

"I'm not worried." Shawn insisted. "There are just some things better left unsaid, I'm a grown man, my dad doesn't need to hear about – that."

_Besides, I'm sure catching Lassie and me playing tonsil hockey in the park was enough for one day. _

"What did the Chief say anyhow?" Lassiter's attention was back on Juliet.

"Well we have Peter on an assault charge, but if we want to nail him for the murder we have to match his prints to the ones found on the letter opener."

"Fair enough." Lassiter grumbled lightly. "Which means we have paper work to do."

Juliet sighed. "Yes we do."

"Do you need me here?" Shawn asked lightly.

"I guess not." Juliet admitted. "We'll call you later on though."

"Perfect." Shawn said – he was dead tired and he had the overwhelming urge to shower. "Do so – Lassie, a second?"

Lassiter nodded and followed Shawn out the door. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Peachy!" Shawn promised.

Lassiter didn't quite believe the psychic, but he figured it was only because he wasn't okay himself. All he had to do was stop for a second and he could see Peter with his hands on Shawn - the pit of Lassiter's stomach was turning uncomfortably. He could feel the same fury in him that had appeared when he learned of Marcus' history with Spencer.

"Okay." Lassiter relented, he sighed a bit – was none of this phasing Spencer? At all?

"Maybe not that okay." Shawn suddenly admitted. Lassiter blinked – was he speaking out loud?

"It was just a rough night though." Shawn explained. "Nothing really happened, honestly once I get home and take the longest shower of my life and eat the rest of the pineapple in my fridge – I'll be fantastic."

Lassiter cracked half a grin, always with the pineapple...god dammit Spencer. The half grin didn't go missed by Shawn.

"Do I see a smile? Lassie's smiling!" Shawn was smiling enough for the both of them now. " 'Atta-boy Lassie, don't worry about it anymore okay?"

"Fine." Suddenly all the anger building up inside of him had dissipated, and Lassiter was thinking clearly again. All he had to do was get Peter booked and hope that his finger prints matched the one on the letter opener. "So – long shower huh?"

"The longest." Shawn repeated. "Scolding hot water, scrub my skin off right down to the bone – Skeletor Spencer is on his way."

"I hope not." Lassiter said. "Skeletor Spencer? He sounds kind of gross – I like you the way you are."

Shawn felt like he needed to be slapped, or, pinched, or resuscitated, because all the air in his lungs just got sucked out. "You like me..?"

Lassiter looked up at the other man. "Did I say something wrong? I mean, yeah...I like you Spencer... Isn't that why we're doing this?"

"Yes!" Shawn said happily then. "This is exactly why we're doing...what are we doing?"

"Dammit Spencer!" Lassiter cursed. "What are we doing? How the hell am I supposed to know? You started this!"

"I did?"

"Back in the car, you took the stupid crime scene photos."

"Oh..." Shawn's face went blank. "Oh yeah that was all me." He chuckled. "My bad."

"Alright." Lassiter was satisfied. "So what are we doing?"

"I like you Lassie." Shawn smiled. "I like you the way you are – just...don't tell Bruno Mars – swell vocals aside I think I might crack if I turn on my radio and hear _another_ ballad."

Lassiter had no idea who Bruno Mars was; he just nodded in agreement thinking it was the best course of action. "Ballads. Bad. Got it."

"Have fun with all that paper work." Shawn said then. "I should get going, the sooner you get done, the sooner you can go home and relax for a few hours."

"That does sound good." Lassiter admitted.

Shawn leaned forward then, and stole a quick kiss. "Call me later?"

"I had planned on it." Lassiter admitted, he made the move then bringing Shawn closer to him and laying on a kiss. This one lasted, and tasted sweeter than the previous kisses. He could feel Shawn melt against him, and their arms locked around each other easily – it was instinct. Neither man could breathe when they finally pulled away.

"Wow..." Shawn saw stars, and the need to shower? Gone.

"Yeah..." Lassiter said in a low voice. "Definitely, wow."

They had stopped kissing, but their bodies hadn't separated. Each man was still holding onto the other, their grips fully locked. "Paperwork." Shawn said lightly.

"In a minute." Lassiter wasn't budging.

"Now." Shawn ordered. "Call me as soon as you're done. Then we can carry on doing this."

"Yes." Lassiter agreed. "What is this?"

"We like each other." Shawn offered. "We'll figure out the rest as we go."

Lassiter agreed, and finally they separated. The moment passed and Shawn felt like he could walk away.

"Later." Lassiter said again. "As soon as I'm done."

"Agreed." Shawn left then, and for a good few steps he walked backwards not taking his eyes off the detective. Finally though he had to pry his eyes and away and turn around – he felt love sick, happy, and also tired.

Tiredness aside though, he practically skipped home the memory of what Lassie just said still fresh in his mind. "Lassie likes me." Shawn repeated it to himself, Lassie liked him and Lassie admitted it. Last night? Totally worth it!

Coming up to his apartment however, Shawn was taken out of his own little world and slammed right back into reality. Sitting on his stoop, smoking a cigarette was Marcus – Marcus looked dead tired and judging by the pile of cigarette butts built up around his feet he had been there for awhile.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Marcus looked up, and looked shocked to see that Shawn had shown up. He stood quickly, but didn't put out his smoke; instead he took a long puff. "Waiting for you." Marcus admitted.

Shawn didn't really like the sound of that. "For me? Why?"

"Can we go inside?" Marcus asked. Shawn immediately shook his head.

"No way." Shawn said. "We can talk here."

"Alright." Marcus agreed. "My dad kicked me out."

"Dude." Shawn shook his head, he really didn't care. "You're almost 40."

"I know." Marcus didn't sound worried about it. "I have some money saved up, so I'll be okay but – he kicked me out because I finally told him."

"Told him what?"

"That the therapy never worked, and you can't stop someone from being gay. He threw a whole shit show – his exact words were 'no pansy ass fags are going to live in this house' it was really quite loud."

Shawn winced a bit, mostly in sympathy – that had to have sucked. "Sorry man." It was really all he could say. "So you've been sitting here all night?"

"All night." Marcus confirmed. "My dad is happy though, I'm out and his new girl friend is in."

"I didn't even know people your dad's age could still date." Shawn was slightly amused – also disturbed.

"It gets worse." Marcus told him. "This new girl? Younger than me. Your age I think."

Shawn visibly shivered. "That's...well...ugh...At least she's over 18 am I right?"

Marcus made a 'pfft' sound. "Right, atleast."

"So, why does any of this concern me?" Shawn asked right away. "I still don't get how fighting with your dad is grounds to sit outside of my apartment all night."

"I figured you had a right to know." Marcus explained. "You were always the one telling me to bite the bullet and rip off the bandaid, I finally did it and I feel great. I owe you so much."

"That's great." Shawn congratulated him. "So don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going inside now. You're not allowed to follow me." Shawn walked passed him then and was half way up his stairs, Marcus didn't say anything he just did what Shawn pretty much told him to do, and left.

Shawn was a little disgruntled then, Marcus was gone and he left a pile of cigarette butts outside his door – fantastic. Shawn was running off little to no sleep and the happy feelings he had whilst holding on to Lassie were starting to drain from him. Time for a shower. He grabbed a couple towels from his linen closet and was half way to his shower when his phone started ringing. Shawn groaned.

"Ack what now..." Shawn grumbled a bit displeased and reaching for his phone, he barely hit the talk button when Gus was on him like a mother hen.

"Dude!" Gus yelled. "What happened last night? You said you were going to call me!"

Shawn winced, he forgot about Gus – he never forgot about Gus! Feeling guilty now he dropped to the couch with his phone clutched to his ear. "I know, last night got pretty weird... Weird being the understatement of the century, and then the chief called my dad and then Marcus was just on my porch." Shawn hadn't noticed that he had started rambling. "I'm so tired man."

"Sounds like it." Gus sounded sympathetic. "Do you want me to come over?"

"No." Shawn said immediately. "I honestly left the station just to sleep."

"That rough of a night?"

Shawn without even realizing it spilled the whole story, by the time he finished Gus was eerily quiet.

"Gus...Gus?" Shawn tried his friend a few times. "Gus say something."

"I'm thinking." Gus finally said. "I'm thinking and – I'm clutching my phone to the point where my knuckles turns white."

"Sounds painful." Shawn commented.

"It isn't comfortable." Gus admitted.

"Seriously – white knuckles?" Shawn did his best to lighten his friend's mood. "That's dangerous man, you're black. I'd get that checked out."

"Why didn't you call me Shawn? !"

"There was no time." Shawn explained again. "I literally just got home; I need a shower, and a long nap."

Gus sighed. "Are you sure you don't want me to come over?"

Shawn's heart strings tugged just a bit, there was a reason Gus was his best bro. "I'm sure." Shawn promised. "Hey silver lining though." Shawn announced.

"Oh?" Gus asked.

"Yeah – Lassie, in his own way told me liked me." Repeating it now Shawn's chest swelled a bit, he was so happy to tell Gus the news.

"Lassiter said he likes you?" Gus sounded surprised.

"Just the way I am." Shawn smiled into his phone, Gus groaned.

"Bruno Mars much?" Gus sounded a little put off. "What is he 12?"

Shawn laughed then – a good strong power laugh. "Dude you're awesome! I made the exact same reference not even an hour ago."

On his end of the line, Gus relaxed. "Lassiter had no idea who you were talking about did he?"

"Not even a little." Shawn told him. "Look dude; come over later in the afternoon okay? I need a few hours to just sleep and then I'm all yours, sound good?"

"Okay." Gus said. "Pizza?"

"Always." Shawn said. "Pineapple on half?"

"Always." Gus said.

They hung up, and again Shawn felt a little better. He dropped his phone carelessly onto his couch and stood up, finally managing to get that shower he'd been meaning to take all morning. By the time he finished scrubbing himself raw he finally got to hit his mattress, the world around him going completely black.

Back at the station Lassiter had hit another brick wall; that happy go lucky feeling had after Shawn left? Gone the second Juliet came back with her full report.

"Peter's prints weren't anywhere on the murder weapon."

"Are you kidding me?" Lassiter could've smashed his head off the desk. "He's not our guy?"

"He's a guy." Juliet offered. "Just not ours."

Lassiter didn't know how he felt about that, maybe if Peter had been the killer Lassiter would've felt a little better about what happened the previous night. At least then Shawn wouldn't have been assaulted for nothing. "I can't believe this..." Lassiter grumbled. "Alright, throw the book at him for assault and let the system take care of the rest. We've got more work to do."

Derek was on the forefront of Lassiter's mind now, as tired as he was there was still a killer out there and Lassiter would gut himself before letting the trail go cold. "O'Hara call Kayla Atkinson, get her here for a few questions."

"Sure thing." Juliet was on it right away. "Anything else?"

"That's it for now." Lassiter said. "I have a bit more paper work to do, hopefully more from her will help us form a better game plan."

"Right." Juliet went to her desk to grab for her phone. "Do you want me to call Shawn too?"

"Shawn?" Lassiter repeated. "Why?" Not that he'd mind seeing Spencer again so soon.

"Maybe ask Kayla a few questions of his own... Do the psychic thing." Juliet suggested.

"He's probably sleeping." Lassiter noted.

"Must be nice." Juliet sounded a bit jealous. "Sleep."

"Yeah." Lassiter agreed, he sounded a little jealous too. Only he wasn't jealous of Shawn, he was jealous of Shawn's bed. He imagined Shawn sleeping soundly, curled up tightly in a blanket – Lassiter wondered if he was going insane. Who could actually admit to wanting to be another person's bedding? "Coffee." Lassiter said then. "I think we need more."

"Oh agreed!" Juliet said then.

Lassiter was up then and heading over to the staff lounge to grab coffee, he gave a small nod of acknowledgement to McNab who was there pouring his own coffee.

"How's the case going?" McNab seemed eager, which was normal. He was a good cop, and he was always interested in what Lassiter and Juliet were up to.

"Alright." Lassiter said lightly, and he grabbed the coffee pot to pour himself and Juliet a cup.

"That's good." McNab said. "Last night sucked, I feel so bad."

"Er – it's alright." Lassiter lied, though he was still pissed that Peter wasn't the guy. "We're bouncing back."

"That's good." McNab sounded encouraging and happy; Lassiter had to wonder how the hell McNab managed to keep that smile. He was running on just as much sleep as him and Juliet. "Did Peter mention Marcus Tuly at all during questioning?"

"Hmm?" Lassiter quirked a brow. "No?" Lassiter tried. "His name didn't pop up."

"Oh." McNab chewed on his lip a bit then, and then proceeded to drink from his own cup. "I just thought that maybe his name would've popped up, course no idea why."

"Marcus Tuly came to the station on a voluntary basis." Lassiter explained. "He admitted to owning the murder weapon, but he claims he dropped it, and until we match the second pair of prints on the weapon we can't make any connections."

"He came here voluntarily?" McNab sounded surprised, but then something clicked in his head and he shrugged. "Makes sense, he was probably here apologizing for his father."

"His father?" Lassiter raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." McNab said casually. "Old scary man, he was here the other day practically screaming at Shawn."

"Say what now?" Lassiter snapped his head up, McNab had his full attention. McNab however stopped talking and actually paled a bit.

"Aw man." McNab said. "I promised Shawn I wouldn't say anything, he said it was strictly a Psych thing."

"Not a word." Lassiter promised, he finished mixing the two coffees. Meanwhile he was making a mental note to bring Marcus in for another visit, Marcus and his old man.

Only there wasn't an answer at the Tuly household, Lassiter called multiple times but nothing. It was incredibly frustrating. "O'Hara." Lassiter finally asked. "Did Kayla Atkinson answer her phone?"

"She sure did." Juliet replied. "Quite the mouth, after a few f-bombs she said she'd be in around 2 and that it was the best she could do."

Lassiter gave an exasperated sigh. "Alright 2 it is."

By the time 2 o clock rolled around, Kayla was late. Not that she meant to be late, while in Santa Barbara she didn't have a car and from her hotel room she was currently making her way to the police station on foot. She was lost in her own world, a pair of large headphones covering her head, her head bobbing up and down to whatever song she was listening too. Rounding a corner, she stopped at an intersection – her face paling.

Derek? She was seeing Derek! No way in hell!

"Derek!" Kayla yelled; Derek turned to look at her – holy shit it was Derek! She made her way across the intersection and marched right towards her brother. Her brother watched in a scrutinizing way as she made her way towards him. "The fuck happened to you!" Kayla yelled. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Shawn had woken up after his power nap; the first thing on his agenda was to head over to the police station to get an update before meeting up with Gus. He wasn't even halfway to the station when he heard someone call for Derek. He turned and saw Kayla marching right towards him, and Shawn had trouble reading the emotion on her face; surprise? Shock? Anger? He honestly didn't know, and the way Shawn's stomach turned a bit had Shawn convinced he didn't exactly want to find out.


	11. Tuly

**A/N: **So after a long hiatus, I am back with a new chapter. It's a little longer than other chapters so hopefully that makes up for my absence. Also I should admit that following chapters won't be coming as fast as they used to. Not because I don't want to finish but because – gasp, I have plot bunnies running around in my head from another fandom. So yeah, if anyone reading this a fan power rangers, be on the lookout for my newest ranger-fic. I will be devoting some time to that for awhile. Anyhow! Please enjoy the chapter, as always reviews are adored and appreciated!

Chow!

~Matilda

P.S

JOIN MY FORUM! The link is in my profile!

**Tuly**

Shawn paused, this lady coming up to him – who was she? She didn't stop in stride until she and Shawn were standing neck and neck.

"What. The. Fuck! ?" Kayla snapped. "You're dead! You're dead!"

Shawn blinked. "No I'm not?" He tried to keep his face stoic, who was this girl and why was she freaking out? Did she kill Derek? If she did she was no longer showing it, as soon as Shawn spoke she was shaking her head.

"Wrong voice." She said apologetically. "I'm sorry, you just – my brother just died, and you – fuck man. You look just fucking like him."

Aw shit, Shawn felt bad for the girl now. "Derek." Shawn said, and Kayla looked up at him.

"Yeah." Kayla said. "How did you know?"

"Sorry." Shawn held out his hand. "Shawn Spencer, I'm a Psychic with the police department, helping with your brother's case."

Kayla blinked at him. Then she blinked again. "What?" She said, and this was followed by a short pause before another. "What?"

"I'm a Psychic?" Shawn repeated. "Working with the police department...?"

"Oh. I heard you. " Kayla stated. "I just don't fucking believe you."

"I have quite a long list of references." Shawn promised. "I've solved over 55 cases for the police department. I will find who killed your brother."

Kayla chewed the inside of her cheek for a second. She looked like she was mulling something over in her head. Finally she thinned her lips a bit. "I get it. I get it. This is a joke to you isn't it? Just one big funny joke."

"No." Shawn sounded quite serious. "Fresh Prince? Funny. Murder? Not so much."

"You're so full of bull shit!" Kayla accused. "Well, we'll see whose laughing after I talk to the police. I'm on my way there now _psychic_. Five bucks says they've never fucking heard of you!"

In spite of himself, Shawn grinned. It was stooping a little low, but hey five bucks was five bucks. "Care to shake on it?" Shawn asked. "No take-sies back-sies?"

Kayla just stared him down like there was something seriously wrong with him. "You're on drugs psychic."

Shawn shrugged a bit. "Maybe." Obviously he wasn't, but since he just tried winning five bucks off this poor girl he figured he'd let her believe anything she wanted about him. "I will see you at the station." With that Shawn turned on his heel and left. Knowing his way around Santa Barbara pretty well he knew a short cut to the station and knew he'd be there a good ten minutes before Kayla. Kayla would then have to eat her words. If Shawn was around anyone who cared right then he would've done an evil laugh. Instead people passing by just had to wonder what he was grinning about.

Shawn got to the station, and was greeted by McNab who was on his way home for the day. "Hiya Shawn." McNab greeted cautiously this was followed a very small. "Do you have a second?"

Shawn quirked a brow. "Sure buddy, what's up?"

"I uh...I'm sorry." McNab said quickly. "Last night was so confusing, and this morning I was so tired and just – I'm sorry."

Shawn took a step back holding up his hands. "Whoa buddy, hold up. You don't need to apologize. Last night was really confusing and you were at the top of your game. You were awesome."

"Not what I'm apologizing for." McNab said sheepishly. "I was really tired, and this morning after you left, I accidentally let it slip about Marcus' dad screaming at you."

Shawn took a deep breath; well at least it wasn't a major secret. "It's not a problem buddy." Shawn insisted. "I'll explain everything."

"Oh thank goodness!" McNab sounded relieved. "I really didn't know what to think, and Detective Lassiter looked so put off when it slipped. He immediately tried contacting Mr. Tuly for questioning. He's obsessed with this case, been working it from every angle."

Shawn seethed a bit, oh poor Lassie. "It's cool McNab, I'll talk to him." He bid McNab goodbye and made his way into the station. He found Lassie easily enough, sitting at his desk and alternating between glaring at his watch and filling out paper work. Before he made it to Lassie's desk, Jules stopped him.

"Be careful, he's been testy since you left."

Shawn nodded. "Thanks Jules." He went over to Lassie's desk and knocked on it softly. "Anyone home?"

Lassiter looked up, and he gave an unconvincing. "Yeah I'm here." He then went back to his paper work. It seemed Jules wasn't kidding.

"I ran into Kayla on my way here." Shawn told him, and that got Lassiter's attention, he looked up. "She'll be here roughly 5-8 minutes."

"Perfect." Lassiter said quickly. "One less thing I have to worry about."

"You need sleep." Shawn didn't make it a question. "Don't you think? I wouldn't mind picking up the slack. Gus and I. We'll do some searching, we'll talk to people - you and Jules can go home and pick back up tomorrow."

Lassiter shook his head. "Absolutely not. This is our case. It'll be done when it's done, then I can rest."

Shawn's heart clenched a bit, McNab wasn't joking – he was obsessed with this case. "At least eat something."

Again Lassiter's head peeked up to look at Shawn. "Spencer, are you showing concern?"

"No, it's all in your head." Shawn joked. "I'm a figment of your imagination; you're talking to the wall behind me."

Lassiter blinked. "You're screwing with me."

"All the time." Shawn smiled. "Now come on, lunch is on me. What do you want?"

"I can get my own lunch." Lassiter wasn't exactly the type to be pandered too. Not that it stopped Shawn from trying.

"Greek Salad? Extra feta? Some dark rye bread with butter?" Shawn offered. "I know you like that place down the street from here. I really don't mind."

Lassiter sighed, but he gave in. He might've yelled, but he didn't have the energy to yell. "Alright it sounds good, just not now. Kayla's on her way here – when I'm done speaking to her."

Shawn thought for a moment, he only really meant to check in before meeting up with Gus. Darnit. Oh well he figured out a solution quickly enough. "Excuse me for a second." And he slipped away to give Gus a call.

"Hey man." Gus greeted. "Do you want me to come over?"

"Yes." Shawn answered. "Just not to my place. The station."

"The station?"

"Yeah. Lassie's going to talk to the victim's sister. Then I'm buying him lunch from that Greek place from down the street, and then you and I can go off and do whatever you want."

If Gus was annoyed by this slight change of plans, he didn't say anything instead he just gave a quick. "Sure man, I'll see you there." Before hanging up.

Shawn pressed the hang-up button and turned around to head back into the station only to see Lassie was blocking his path.

"Question." Lassiter said then. "When Davis Tuly yelled at you the other day, what exactly did he say?"

Ah crap. Shawn repressed a sigh. "Just to stay away from his son, not to work my voodoo magic to get into his pants again. Just old school judgemental ramble, that's all."

"No. That's not all." Lassiter shook his head. "Spencer, stuff like that in a case like this is important. You can't keep crap like that from me."

"It's not vital information." Shawn pointed out. "I highly doubt he did it."

"Doubt nothing." Lassiter said. "Absolutely nothing! That's information I need. Because let's say, I didn't find out. Then Davis Tuly turns out to be the lowest form of scum on this earth, and the second I turn my back he goes after you, and just because you didn't say anything." The lines on Lassiter's face seemed to deepen, and Shawn felt really bad.

"Try to see it from my perspective." Shawn tried. "Davis Tuly, is hard to deal with. He's from a completely different time, and his opinions maybe hateful but they're the result of a different way of life. Also, Derek Atkinson was killed up high in a warehouse platform. Davis Tuly is in his 70's and he walks with a cane. There's no way in hell he could've gotten up there. So – yes, he's spiteful and bitter but that doesn't make him a murderer."

"You should've said something." Lassiter made his words clear. "So from now on, use your words."

Shawn was sure Lassiter didn't mean to sound cruel, he was tired after all and working himself to exhaustion. So instead of arguing Shawn just gave a tight nod followed by a small. "Okay."

Lassiter looked relieved, still tired but mostly relieved. "Thank you."

Aw shucks, Shawn pouted a bit and sighed. "You really need rest Lassie."

Lassiter mumbled something about sleeping later and was heading back towards his desk just as Kayla Atkinson was walking through the main entrance. Shawn bounded up to meet her. "Good afternoon!"

Kayla seethed a bit. "Seriously?" She really didn't believe Shawn's claim of being psychic.

"Seriously." Shawn answered, and he then gestured to Lassiter. "You've already met Detective Lassiter here; I will leave you two alone." He left then with a playful wave and a wink. When he reached the steps outside Gus was just pulling up in the blueberry.

"Hey." Shawn greeted. "We just have to run to the Greek place down the street, and then I'm all yours."

"Sounds fine." Gus agreed. "What's Lassiter doing right now anyway?"

"He's questioning the victim's sister a little further, trying to get more details on the guy."

"Isn't that what we should be doing?" Gus said. "Maybe we should stick around."

"In good time." Shawn said. "I know who the sister is now, first chance I get I'll sweet talk Jules into giving me her number. "

"Why not now?" Gus asked. "I feel like we're wasting time."

"I know." Shawn craned his neck a bit. He still wasn't on his full game for this case, and he started to wonder if maybe his dad was right, maybe it just wasn't his case? "We'll get there." Shawn wasn't sure if he was assuring himself or Gus.

It wasn't long before they reached the Greek place and grabbed Lassie's food, when they got back to the station Lassiter was still in questioning with Kayla and instead of bothering him Shawn opted to leave the Styrofoam container on the detective's desk. "Jules, do you have a sharpie handy?"

Juliet handed Shawn a sharpie, Shawn grinned. "Thanks!" He then drew a pair of cartoony lips on the top of the container and left it with care right in the middle of Lassie's desk. "I can't stay too long because Gus is waiting in the car, but quick question if I may?"

"Go ahead." Juliet said.

"What do we know about Kayla Atkinson; other then what Lassie's learning in the interrogation room right now?"

"Not a whole lot." Juliet admitted. "She and her brother came to Santa Barbara for a visit, Derek stayed behind an extra day to go to the party, and when we identified Derek's body we called her back here."

"I see." Shawn said, and he then thought for a second. "They came to Santa Barbara for a visit?" He noted that tourist season was over, it wasn't a huge hunch but it was big enough that pieces of a puzzle started to put themselves together in Shawn's mind. "I have to go!" He left then in a hurry, getting into the blue berry, his brain going about a million miles a second. "Gus! Don't be mad!"

"Be mad about what?"

"We're paying the Tuly household a visit."

"We are?" Gus sounded unsure.

"Yes!" Shawn was back on his feet. "I have a theory, a theory where if I'm proven right – will blow the Derek Atkinson case wide open! Also you're going to have to do some acting."

Gus slammed on the breaks. "Acting? What? !"

"Just trust me." Shawn pleaded. "You remember the address?"

"Considering I've never been there before – no."

"Okay!" Shawn said. "Directions then."

He guided Gus to the Tuly household and noted with glee that there was a vehicle in the drive way. "Okay Gus." Shawn said. "Just as we planned."

"Shawn, I don't like this – why can't you do it?"

"Because Davis Tuly knows who I am." Shawn answered. "All you have to do is go in there, look a little tough – less than five minutes."

"Tough." Gus repeated. "...I can't remember the last time I tried pulling off tough, what do I do?"

"Unbutton a couple shirt buttons." Shawn suggested, "Flex a little, and frown. Lots of frowning."

Gus pursed his lips a bit, and just shook his head as he got out of the car. He didn't take any of Shawn's advice.

"Gus!" Shawn yelled from the car window before Gus was out of site. Gus turned.

"What?"

"Work your swagger! Tough guys have swagger!"

Gus clenched his jaw, but to Shawn's amusement he did put a bit of a jaunt in his step as he walked around the bend and headed for the front of Davis Tuly's home. He knocked, and waited.

It didn't take long for the old man to answer, he looked just as bitter as he did the day he yelled at Shawn at the police station. "The hell do you want?" Tuly barked at Gus immediately.

"Just checking out my competition." Gus jumped right into character, he felt silly doing this, but if Shawn was right then things would start making sense and Gus was all game for that.

"Competition?" Tuly snarled a bit. "No idea what you're yammering on about, get off my property."

"So Kayla doesn't come around here?" Gus asked. "I'm to believe my girlfriend is going around town with some other Tuly?"

"She never mentioned anything about a boyfriend to me, and even if she did – he wouldn't be of your particular breed." Davis Tuly didn't put any emphasis on his wording. He said it very matter-of-fact.

Gus'eyes widened, then widened a little more. The old man didn't use any racial slurs but Gus knew exactly what he was referring too. "Ah hell no!" Gus barked immediately. Like Shawn he was somewhat logical over the whole 'Davis Tuly is from another time' argument. So he didn't jump straight to ripping the old man a new one. Instead his 'tough' face just got a lot tougher. "Listen up man! Kayla is my girl. Got it? I don't care what she's told you; stay the hell away from her!" He didn't mean a single word of it. Davis Tuly in all his ignorance just rolled his eyes.

"You can't tell me what to do boy." Tuly responded. "I suggest you find someone else to harass. Someone who gives a shit about people like you!" He slammed the door in Gus' face. Gus was pissed. Yes, he confirmed Shawn's theory that Kayla and Davis were involved however it came at a price he wasn't entirely comfortable with.

"You owe me!" He yelled at Shawn the second he was back in car. Shawn who had been playing Tetris on his phone, jumped up and blinked.

"What owe you? For what?"

"What do you mean for what? !" Gus hollered. "For sending me over there to talk to that old ass, ignorant as hell racist jerk!"

Shawn had only heard Gus go off like this a handful of times growing up, it was always an uncomfortable situation. He felt really really bad now. "Aw man." Shawn tried. "I do owe you, I'm really sorry."

Gus sighed the fire going out a little he never really was an angry individual. "I'm over it." He leaned a bit in his seat and put his seat belt on. "On the bright side, I got what you wanted. Kayla Atkinson and Davis Tuly are involved with each other."

"Yes!" Shawn cheered. "Gus that's awesome! You're the best!"

"Yeah yeah." Gus grunted a bit. "You still owe me."

"Anything you want." Shawn promised. "You're right, I do owe you. Next time we visit your parents, I'll let your dad tell me all the reasons he never wanted you to hang out with me. Every painful detail how does that sound?"

"You're reckless, a poor scholar, and a bad influence – you already know the reasons." Gus said. "Something else?"

Shawn thought really hard. "Oh! Does your crazy aunt Mildred still believe I'm the reincarnation of her dead husband Cliff?"

"Yeah." Gus said. "She sure does – I don't know why though, she was never married and no one in the family knows anyone named Cliff."

Shawn laughed a bit. "Oh what an eccentric treat your aunt is. How about the next time we're in Catalina we'll pay her a visit and I'll tell her I like men?"

Gus grinned. "I think she'd like that. Oddly. Anyhow you got yourself a deal. Shake on it?"

The two did an exploding fist bump. "It's been decided." Shawn said then. "I am still sorry though."

"It's cool, besides we have pizza and rock band waiting for us at the office, you promised."

"Yes I did." Shawn remembered. "We'll touch base with Lassie first thing in the morning to see what else he learned about Ms. Atkinson."

"But for now." Gus insisted. "Rock band and pizza."

"Done deal."

It wasn't until later in the evening did Gus seem to be really okay with what happened between him and Davis Tuly, and Shawn didn't feel any less responsible despite Gus telling him to forget about it. Normally Shawn was okay with shoving the bad stuff under the rug and forgetting about it, but this one irked him. He was Gus' best friend after all, he felt obligated to march the old man's house and tear him a new one.

"How do you think Kayla and Davis met?" Gus said. "I mean, internet sure – but I'm not going on a dating site looking for girls half my age."

"That's because girls your age are barely 18." Shawn laughed a bit. "So internet is most likely, still. An odd pair don't you think?"

"I do." Gus replied. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, Davis doesn't know I know you. SO! Tomorrow, I will have a vision revealing Kayla and Davis' tryst and I will lead Lassie and Jules to Davis' house."

"So the norm." Gus pointed out. "Now how do we connect this to the murder?"

"Well." Shawn pursed his lips a little. "Kayla's attitude towards me was; a bit hostile, if not completely put off. It isn't much but it's what I was looking for when I was scouting people at the ware house."

"You think she did it?"

"Almost positive." Shawn said. "Derek knows her they were siblings. Your sister comes up to you after a night of partying and says 'hey lets go somewhere quiet' you wouldn't think anything of it would you?"

"Got me there." Gus admitted. "Still he must've known something was up, my sister would lead me to an abandoned warehouse to climb a wall."

"No." Shawn confirmed. "But they're siblings, maybe he was expecting a prank, or a lecture, he must've known something was up -but I don't think he thought he was going to die."

"Fair enough." Gus huffed a bit. "It's a pretty leap though."

"Who else is there?" Shawn said. "Marcus is totally innocent, Davis couldn't climb up that high, Peter's prints weren't anywhere on the letter opener. We're not forgetting anyone in this scenario are we?"

"Nope." Gus gave Shawn that one. "So tomorrow – the big reveal?"

"The big reveal." Shawn said. "Well, depending on what Lassie has to tell us about Kayla."

"Which hopefully, is everything." Gus pointed out.

The next day Shawn had his 'vision' and made the connection between Kayla and the murder weapon. Normally his visions were big spectacles that led to final answers but when Lassiter looked him dead in the eye and said he was wrong Shawn kicked himself.

"Her prints weren't on the weapon."

"They must be." Shawn insisted. "I can see it, as clear as day."

"They weren't." Lassiter explained. "She voluntarily gave me her prints yesterday; they didn't match any of the prints on the letter opener."

Inwardly Shawn cursed, there had to be an explanation. All the signs in Shawn's head pointed to Kayla. "I'm seeing something." Shawn insisted. "She's not telling you everything."

The police station was in an odd lull that morning, O'Hara hadn't come in yet and most of the uniforms were out doing morning patrol. As for Lassiter he was going on his third day straight with no sleep. The coffee he held in his hand was scalding hot, but he barely noticed as he brought it to his lips. It was keeping him alert. Needless to say Lassiter was irritable, and despite the growing sexual tension between him and Spencer he didn't exactly appreciate the psychic choosing to have a vision first thing in the morning.

"Spencer, she told me everything she knows. Which unsurprisingly was everything she told me the first time we spoke. Her prints weren't on the letter opener. How can you be seeing this?"

"Just trust me." Shawn insisted. He then had another 'vision' and forcing a wince brought a hand to his temple. "There's someone – someone older, a father figure – no wait." He pointed to Lassiter. "A boyfriend, a much older boyfriend! Did Davis' Tuly's name come up at all?"

Lassiter blinked, no. No it hadn't. "No." He admitted slowly.

"Maybe it should've." Gus added from the background.

"Try me." Shawn insisted. "Go to Davis' Tuly's house. Ask about Kayla. Just try or hell, call Kayla back."

Lassiter was tired, but he humoured Shawn and dialled Kayla's room number. There was no answer.

"That could mean something." Shawn went on.

"It's early." Lassiter pointed out. "She's still sleeping."

That wasn't good enough for Shawn, he turned to Gus who couldn't offer any more help then he already had. "Davis then." Shawn compromised. "His house – lets go."

"Spencer – no." Lassiter shook his head. "You were the one who docked my suspicions of the old man when you said he was too old and frail, and we all know he's cruel in his wording and overly bitter so why bother the old man further?"

Shawn suppressed a bit of a huff. An extremely tired Lassie was an extremely lazy Lassie. He knew he wasn't getting reciprocation on the matter. "Gus, give me a minute." Shawn said lightly, and he guided Lassie into an empty file room closing the door behind them. "You're not listening to anything I'm saying are you?"

"I am." Lassiter said. "Nothing you're saying is adding up though. Maybe you're having an off day or something."

"I'm the one having an off day?" Shawn turned the accusation right back at the detective. "You can barely keep a sentence together let alone listen to reason. I have a really strong feeling about this Lassie. We have to go to Davis' house. Today."

"A 'strong feeling' doesn't stand in a court of law. There has to be evidence, you normally find evidence, but you have none Spencer. Neither of us do at this point, it's just a bunch of theory and loop jumping." Lassiter was beginning to sound a bit edgy.

"We've gotten bad guys on less." Countered Shawn. "That's what we're still trying to do. Catch the bad guy."

"Shawn, we've worked every angle. Until something new pops up, we're just reaching for air."

"We're at the station." Shawn said immediately. "You never refer to me as Shawn at the station – Lassie, you're tired." He softened a bit.

"Yes." Lassiter said. "I am tired. I am tired of this whole case. Of asking numerous questions day in and day out that get me nowhere, of voluntarily putting you in situations where you could get hurt, of looking at pictures of your dead face over and over again to see if there were any clues that I missed. It's very tiring, so excuse me for being tired!" Lassiter wasn't yelling, but his tone was enough to tell Shawn the detective really wasn't happy.

Shawn felt really bad now. Lassiter was giving this case everything he had, and all because he was starting to feel things for Shawn. Shawn was touched, but also blind. He kept forgetting this wasn't just another case for the detective. Shawn stood on his tippy toes and planted his lips against Lassiter's softly. Despite being tired, Lassiter's arms wrapped around Shawn immediately. The kiss was brief, and a little wet. When they pulled apart Lassiter didn't move his arms.

"What was that for?" Lassiter asked.

"You're tired." Shawn gave a grin. "So strike a deal with me. Go home, and get some sleep. Let Jules handle the paper work today. I will call you this afternoon and we'll go straight to the drawing board, all four of us. You, me, Jules, and Gus."

"Hmm." Lassiter seemed to think about it. "You're not going to start singing songs about being super friends are you? Or start quoting the 80's until my ears bleed?"

"Hey." Shawn snapped jokingly. "I said we were going to get this case closed. I didn't say I was going to stop being who I was to do it."

"Breakfast club." Lassiter said then tiredly. "Quote anything but Breakfast club. It was on basic cable last night at like...3...I still can't get that song out of my head."

Shawn started singing. "Don't you – forget about me, I'll be alone dancing you know it baby.."

"Yeah yeah." Lassiter cut him off. "That one."

"Promise." Shawn made a crossing motion over his heart. "...Can I quote St Elmo's Fire?"

"Spencer." Lassiter used a bit of a warning tone. "I'm going home to sleep now."

Shawn smiled. "Call me as soon as you wake up?"

"Sure." Lassiter promised. With a seemingly unrehearsed ease, the two shared another kiss – this one a little longer and more tender. Shawn finally let go of the detective and let him leave after that.

As soon as he was gone, Shawn stepped out of the filing room to meet Gus.

"You guys work it out okay?" Gus asked.

"Yes and no." Shawn said. "He agreed to sleep. But I still can't shake my theory. While he's out you and I are going parking."

"Parking?" Gus looked a little concerned. "Where?"

"Davis Tuly's." Shawn answered. "Nothing big, we're just going to sit outside of his house for a bit."

Gus sighed. "I really don't like that sound of that."

"Just follow me." Shawn urged, and he started making determined steps back out of the station and towards the blueberry with Gus close on his heels.


	12. Bring me Cake or Bring me Death

**A/N: **New chapter, hurray! It seems my power ranger's kick wasn't nearly as strong as my Psych kick. So I'm back, though a little off and on, as you can see my updates are getting further apart. Not to worry however! With the exception of **Dream Ring** (It's just not coming to me! .!) I do intend on finishing all my current 'in process' fics. It's just going to take time. Also anyone who wants to take Dream Ring and make it their own – feel free to PM me. I'm not taking the fic off my account but whoever wants to update with their own chapters can, and I'll give credit to the user via author's note and request any reviews from here on out be directed to them.

So yes, no more Dream Ring for me. However! My tradition stays alive. Every time I write a fic where an OC has a more detailed past with one of the main characters, I always write a flash back on how they met, so yes SPOILER – there is a flash back in this chapter. However this chapter has a lot more to it as we are sadly almost at an end. I'm not saying anything from here, just read, enjoy (or don't), and review!

~Matilda

**Hit Me! (Give me Cake or Give me Death!)**

Davis Tuly's house looked completely deserted. Every blind had been pulled shut and the car that usually sat in the drive way was nowhere to be seen. Shawn and Gus had been parked outside of the house for the better part of 3 hours. Shawn was getting bored; he lulled his head back into his seat and groaned loudly and obnoxiously.

"This sucks so bad!"

"It's only been three hours." Gus countered. "Be patient."

"Three hours too long." Shawn stretched as much as he could and cracked his neck from side to side. "I say we go in."

"He's a grumpy old man Shawn." Gus reminded him. "Who is currently involved with someone you think is a murder suspect. We have no idea what's in there. We're staying here."

"Lassie says her prints weren't on the weapon, and that she gave them willingly." Shawn was talking mostly to himself, though Gus was welcome to pop in at any time. "In every way the case points away from her doing it. Her brother was the victim, she's been nothing but compliant with the police. How do I place her at the crime scene?"

"Maybe you don't." Gus interjected. "Shawn, she sounds perfectly innocent. I don't understand why you're pushing so hard."

"Because it fits." Shawn said. "She completely freaked out when she saw me, she's involved with Marcus 'dad, Marcus having been a suspect – there are just too many coincidences where Kayla's concerned."

"Hold up." Gus cut Shawn off immediately. "Did you just say Marcus is no longer a suspect? Seriously? What got him off?" Gus didn't sound happy.

"He's still technically a suspect." Shawn assured his friend. "But he didn't do it."

"You can't just say that!" Gus argued. "He's a suspect in the case Shawn, until it's over there's no saying who did what and who didn't do what. You know that!"

"Yes." Shawn ran his finger through his hair feeling a little agitated. "I also know that it's innocent until proven guilty."

"Then Kayla's innocent too." Gus said. "What are we even doing here?" He had to ask then.

"We're staking out." Shawn said. "I couldn't just wait around the office, I wanted to do something."

"We could always just google Kayla at the office." Gus suggested. "It has to be better than sitting around here looking at a house."

"True." Shawn agreed. "Alright, we'll go. Start up the car."

Gus obliged happily, and soon the two were on the road back for the office. They drove in silence as Shawn fell into thought. Mention of Marcus had Shawn re-visiting the whole affair in his mind. More so how it all started...

_Marcus was dead tired, maybe an all night drinking binge wasn't the best idea before his first day on the job. Yet none the less it was 7:30 in the AM and there he was hunched over and walking down the street feeling miserable. Wincing every time a mailbox slammed closed when he made a delivery. Ugh – it was nerve racking... _

_Yet not as nerve racking as the shock one got when a person fell from the sky and landed directly in front of you – almost on you, which was exactly what happened to Marcus. _

_Marcus was coming up the walkway of a fairly nice house, not that he was paying attention. He was barely halfway to the door when he heard a booming. "LOOK OUT!" Marcus' reaction time from being hung over was cut in half, so he didn't do anything until after the other person landed in front of him. Marcus fell back with a surprised scream, and would've landed right on his ass if the 'flying stranger' hadn't grabbed him by the arm and quickly pulled him back into a standing position. _

"_Sorry!" The boy said- he looked to be no older than 16 or 17. "Window jumping out to school, dad's in a rotten mood. I don't feel like dealing with it today."_

"_Er..." Marcus blinked. "It's okay, really...You just jumped out a window, it's perfectly normal everybody does it." Really they didn't, but Marcus was really hung over so he wasn't about to argue._

"_Someday...Everyone will do it someday." The boy commented whimsically. "I'll make it a thing, just you see."_

_Marcus looked up then, and gave the boy a full look over – was he serious? Yes. It seemed the boy was perfectly serious; sharp blue eyes stared directly at him. They were truthfully the most beautiful eyes Marcus had ever seen. Then again, so was this boy. Marcus for a second didn't realize he was checking the kid out, but when he did he was immediately disgusted with himself. For one thing – he wasn't gay, and for the other, this kid was a good ten years younger than him. _

"_Hey, man." The boy spoke up catching Marcus' attention. "My dad has this thing where he doesn't like it when people walk on his lawn, and believe me. He knows when people walk on his lawn, he'll go all 'old man with a cane' on me so uh – do you think you could take just one step to the left so I can get around you and get to school via the cross walk?" _

_Marcus blinked. "Wha?"_

"_School." The boy repeated. "The place I'm pretending to go to make my parents happy. Maybe I'll give homeroom a try today since I'm out of the house early enough, but there's a calc test this afternoon I intend to either miss or fail...If you wanted to stand in my way before then I'd be all for it – really. Might even get an extended study period. 'Oh I'm sorry Mr. Rosdale but I just couldn't get here on time after lunch, the mail man wouldn't get out of my way.'" The boy made his voice much deeper then. "'Oh Mr. Spencer not to worry, I completely understand -statue mailmen are sadly all too common in this day and age and I'm sorry you became a victim of such an event. You're excused from today's test, always such a model student.'" The boy paused then and his voice went back to normal and he just shook his head suddenly speaking like he was seriously considering the situation. "It would never happen." The boy cursed. "Mr. Rosdale hates me."_

_Marcus being unable to speak just stepped aside letting the boy pass him. _

"_Thanks!" The boy said cheerfully, and just like that – he was gone. _

_Marcus was stunned, and a little ashamed of himself. He was just checking the teenager out in all the wrong ways, the hell was wrong with him? He decided it was the teen's fault, and that tomorrow because his dad would want him to he'd march right up to the teen and tell him off. _

_The following day Marcus was at the house again by the same time, only this time the boy came waltzing out the front door. This was it; Marcus started marching over to the kid with a few choice words. He stopped in his tracks when the boy looked up however and spotted him. The boy just quirked his brow confused, before he simply accepted Marcus' presence, and offered Marcus a smile. Something inside Marcus changed then, and everything he was going to say he forgot, instead he just held out his hand in greeting. "Hi." _

_The boy again smiled, and a soft hand closed around Marcus' in a surprisingly firm grip. "Hi." The boy repeated. "I'm Shawn." _

"_I..." Marcus forgot how to talk again, the boys hand was abnormally gentle – how the hell?..._

"_Shawn." Shawn repeated. "You are?"_

"_M- Marcus." He remembered his own name. _

"_Marcus. Cool." Shawn smiled and took his hand back. "Alright Marcus." Shawn winked and started walking away – Marcus watched every step he took. "I'll see you around."_

It was in that moment where Marcus knew Shawn was going to be an important part of his life. The memory of their first meeting was teasing and a little too bitter sweet for his taste. He was never one for drama and having annoying flash backs was not how he wanted to start his day.

He just wanted to move on with his life, put everything rotten behind him and just be Marcus. However before he could really do any of that, he had to finish unpacking the apartment he rented – but before he could do that, he had to find a way to push Shawn out of his mind. It was easier said than done.

Shawn always reminded Marcus of a Dr. Suess character. He pranced around always in a bright mood and colour, and the longer you looked at him the longer he stayed in your head. So since Marcus had seen quite a bit of Shawn, those images were stuck. It was annoying as all hell, not because they weren't appealing but because every memory led to the hit. The one moment that defined where they stood with each other today. Even thinking about it now guilt threatened to bubble over, Marcus had to get a grip on himself, he was a grown man!

However, the last few days were really starting to show him some perspective on his life. So maybe the flash back was forgivable. He already decided he owed Shawn so much, but he didn't know how to grovel without looking like a douche. So instead of grovelling he decided on a different route, thus whilst drinking his coffee he managed to find Shawn's work address via google and didn't think twice about grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.

Shawn and Gus had been in the Psych office for just an hour now, and Shawn was careening with joy. They had to dig a little deeper than usual, but a simple search on Kayla had brought up more then what Shawn and Gus were expecting.

"A psychologist!" Shawn pumped his fist in the air in victory. "And even better, not an actual trained psychologist, just a self proclaimed religious psychologist! Gus this is the most magical and wonderful thing I've ever seen!"

"That's great." Gus didn't sound so convinced. "What exactly does she do though?"

"According to her church page, she's renowned for guiding youth down the 'straight' path. Apparently she's really good at helping gays realize their sin and turn back to God."

Gus who was the more religious between him and Shawn visibly shuddered. "That's not right at all." He bit his tongue from there. Gus wasn't one to preach, he just felt/knew that what Kayla did was wrong.

"This is motivation!" Shawn was so happy. "Okay, whole new scenario." Shawn was in full work mode. "You're well known in your community, saaaaay for – baking. You're a famous baker in your hometown, everyone you know loves your food. Then one day, while vacationing with your sister she breaks it to you that she's diabetic, what do you do Gus?"

Gus face palmed. "Really Shawn? THAT'S your metaphor?"

"Okay it isn't perfect." Shawn leaned back in his seat. "Think about it though, you work so hard, you make all these delicious pasties and cakes – and then someone you love, someone you care about, tells you they can't share or experience your baked goods. Wouldn't you be mildly frustrated?"

"Yeah I would." Gus admitted.

"Okay." Shawn went on. "So, bigger scale = more extreme results."

"So maybe your hunch on Kayla wasn't off." Gus gave him that one. "Still, her prints weren't on the weapon."

"Dude, haven't you ever heard of plastic gloves? Honestly, this is why I hate crime shows. Sure it's all good and fun watching the police act like super heroes, but it in the end it's just a guideline for murderers on what not to do."

Gus gave a low laugh. "Alright, so what are we doing with this?"

"Nothing we can do really." Shawn yawned a bit; he was more tired than he anticipated. "I have everything I think I need. Enough that when Lassie calls, I can have an 'episode' and reveal what Kayla does for a living. They take her in for questioning; she eventually breaks under pressure and admits that she killed her brother due to their differences. We get a paycheque; we do a little dance, and cruise off into the sunset until the next time the Psych signal is flashed in the sky."

Gus gave a thumbs up. "I'm down." He stood up then. "But I'm actually hungry, so – what do you want?"

"I'm feeling a burger." Shawn grinned a bit. "Oh! Sea salt on the fries."

"Done and done." Gus said. "Large drink?"

"Oh yes please." Shawn sounded excited.

"Alright I'll be back as soon as I can." Gus was up and gone leaving Shawn alone. Shawn had cracked his knuckles and was warming up to play tetris while Gus was gone, but he never got the chance to boot up the game when his office door opened.

"Rebellious at 17, and he still manages to own his office. The system is flawed."

Shawn peeked his head up and saw Marcus standing in his office, a brow quirked, and immediately he felt a little uncomfortable. However given Marcus' recent habit of apologizing like a mad man Shawn didn't think too much would come of this visit.

"I'm surprised Gus didn't see you come in." Shawn said. "He just left, and he probably actually hates you."

Marcus shrugged. "Not surprised, the way you've always talked about him I'm convinced you two are permanently attached at the hip."

"So." Shawn said lightly. "What -uh brings you here?"

"I think I know how we can settle this." Marcus explained.

"You know who killed Derek?" Shawn sounded hopeful.

"No." Marcus said. "Settle this – you, me, us. Whatever we've been since – that night.."

"The night you punched my face." Shawn said it so casually, it made Marcus wince.

"Yes, that night." Marcus said. "I can fix it though; I have an idea – then maybe after, maybe after we can be friends."

Shawn thought about it, his first reaction was to jump up and start shouting 'no' multiple times. However Shawn wasn't a complete jerk, so he stood and went over to stand a couple feet from Marcus. A conversation like this was best had eye to eye. "What's your idea? How is what happened that night fixable?"

"Hit me." Marcus insisted.

Shawn paused, and stared looking dumb founded. "Ha?"

"Hit me." Marcus repeated, and he gestured to his face. "One shot, as hard as you can."

"Wow." Shawn placed both hands on his hips and pursed his lips a bit. "You're serious?"

"Dead serious." Marcus said. "I'm not leaving your office without a shiner."

"Wha...I..." Shawn broke into a nervous laughter. "Marcus you sound crazy right now. Like Tom Hanks in Castaway crazy. I'm not hitting you."

"Why not?" Marcus insisted. "You must've thought about it, at least once or twice. I bet if you could go back in time and hit me back you would."

"Maybe." Shawn admitted. "But I'm not hitting you now, what's the point?"

"Revenge?" Marcus tried. "And eye for an eye – in this case literally."

"I'm not hitting you!" Shawn repeated himself a little louder. "You're acting ridiculous."

"I learned from the best." Marcus teased a bit. "After all these years, you're telling me you're not still a little angry?"

"Okay, well yeah." Shawn reluctantly agreed. "But I don't hit people, I've never hit anybody, never intentionally anyway, and never first. I'm not a fighter."

"I think you have a little fight in you." Marcus insisted. "We were together for a few months; you're spunky when you want to be – come on Shawn, just once. Hit me."

"You're crazy!" Shawn insisted. "Marcus, I think you need to get out of here, get some sleep or something. I'm not hitting you!"

"Oh come on, one hit, just one and I swear I'll never bother you again."

"Really?" Shawn perked up a bit. "Revenge, and that's it? That's all you want from me?"

"Isn't that all you want from me?" Marcus asked.

"I'm not a sadist." Shawn crossed his arms.

"I hit you Shawn, you were a 17 year old kid and I hit you! I didn't even give you a chance, I chewed you right up and I hit you as hard as I could! You deserve this, hit me!"

Shawn paused at Marcus' outburst, and decided – yeah okay maybe Marcus had a point. "You know Marcus, I have to admit even though I was put off, and angry that day I never hated you."

"Not even a little?" Marcus asked.

"No, not even a little." Shawn promised. "...However..."

Marcus didn't see it coming; Shawn's fist had balled up so quickly and had planted itself right in Marcus' face. Marcus hunched over, holding his face in pain. "Ugh!"

"Ugh!" Shawn groaned back in pain, he was holding onto his fist like it was a baby and he too was hung over. "The hell is your face made out of? Steel? Geeze!"

"The hell is going on here?"

Before Marcus could say anything, detective Lassiter's voice broke through, and looking up he saw the detective looking slightly dishevelled and very displeased. "Shawn, what is he doing here?"

"Lassie!" Shawn's face perked right up, and he smiled. He then gestured to Marcus who was still hunched over in pain. "I hit a guy!"

"I – see that." Lassiter gawked a bit, and he took a step further into the office. "Spencer? Explanation?"

"Not a coherent one." Shawn said. "Just some unfinished business – I guess."

"I'll say." Marcus agreed, and disregarding the detective he searched out the nearest mirror to examine his face. "Oh yeah, that'll bruise." Marcus sounded pleased. "Looks like we're done here." Marcus took off in a slight run, just a little intimidated by Lassiter's 'mad dog' face. He was gone before the detective could say anything. Instead Lassiter turned to face Shawn who was still cradling his hand a bit.

"Shawn what the hell happened here?" Lassiter hadn't slept long, he had been wound too tight to stay down for long. Having woken up with an unexplained start and feeling restless he had found himself driving to Shawn's office before very long. Only to come in to see Shawn act so out of character – he saw the hit, it looked pretty hard. Lassiter wondered what Marcus had said or done to provoke Shawn to act so violently.

"Marcus came in and asked me to hit him." Shawn explained. "Wanted to even the score."

Lassiter didn't believe him. "No. There's no way in hell."

"But there is a way." Shawn explained. "Because that's what happened."

"That's all that happened?" Lassiter was never sure when Marcus was involved, he didn't particularly like Marcus.

"Yes." Shawn assured him. "That's all that happened." He went over to the detective and planted a kiss on him. Lassiter was still pretty tired, but the lingering taste of pineapple and the feel of soft lips against his own had him up and alert, and without really thinking about it, a long arm locked Shawn's lower back pulling him closer.

"Okay." That's all the explanation Lassiter needed. He pulled back with the intention of asking Shawn if anything new had popped up with the case, he wanted to get straight back to work. However the second his lips left Shawn's, Shawn made a small protesting, sound and greedily pushed them back together.

It was like an electric charge, Lassiter didn't bother telling Shawn 'no' or 'stop' he honestly didn't know how. Soon both arms were wrapped around the psychic and the detective found himself in a seating position on one of the desks, Shawn nuzzled up on his lap his kisses becoming more persistent. Shawn's hands were clutched onto each of Lassiter's shoulders, holding him in place. There wasn't a thought process that motivated their moves, just instinct. The detective used his teeth, pulling lightly on Shawn's bottom lip, Shawn's response was to release the smallest of moans and part his lips gently. Lassiter took it as an invitation, and emitting a low growl his tongue pushed passed his own lips and through Shawn's. Just the possessive growl alone was enough have Shawn melt, but the second the detective took control and Shawn was shaking in anticipation.

The way Shawn tasted had Lassiter needing more, his tongue explored and caressed every inch it could reach, and knowing that Shawn was currently helpless against him drove him wild. He wanted Shawn like this – all the time. His lips moved, and he was leaving wet kisses all down Shawn's jaw line. Shawn leaned his head back, and Lassiter's kisses found their way to Shawn's neck. A single kiss against Shawn's skin had Shawn letting out another sweet moan. Lassiter bit down, and Shawn jumped in Lassiter's lap crying out – it felt too good.

"Lassie..."

The bite had stung, but it hadn't hurt. Lassiter had left a mark, and he continued to kiss and lick that same spot. Shawn's body started to burn all over, and he wanted Lassiter to strip him down and kiss every inch. He wasn't thinking, and he boldly lowered his hands to grab onto the detective's and guide them to the hem of his shirt to have him lift it off. The detective's knuckles were rough and brushed against Shawn's sides as he lifted the shirt. It made Shawn swoon – yes, this was happening. The second Shawn's shirt hit the floor, the detective's eyes travelled the entirety of his torso and Lassiter sucked in a long breathe.

Shawn pushed Lassiter down to a full sitting position on the desk and wasted no time in wrapping his legs the detective's waist and their lips were locked together again, hot and hungry. Of course it was in that moment, reason started to sink its claws into Shawn's mind, there was a detail Shawn was missing. An important one – what was it? Shawn was going to pull back to think, but the detective wouldn't let his lips go, and those rough hands of his had found Shawn's chest, pressing down on his pecks and stroking his long fingers over Shawn's nipples. Shawn made a keening sound, and his thoughts vanished again. Leaning into Lassiter so that he could feel more of the detective's hands, Shawn playfully reached around Lassiter's neck and loosened his tie. Shawn slid the tie up and off the detective's head before slipping it around his own neck and securing it.

Lassiter's tie was silk, and it tickled Shawn's skin, from his collar bone all the way down to his navel. Lassiter traced the length of the tie all the way down to the bottom before hooking his fingers into the belt of Shawn's pants.

It would've been incredibly steamy; Shawn wanted it more than anything. All the detective had to do was look at him and he was ready to strip – only the nagging in the back of his head was becoming more persistent. Then he heard it, the soft click of a door being opened. GUS!

Lassiter didn't hear it at all, but it pierced Shawn's ear drum like a crack of thunder, he was up and off Lassiter in milliseconds, grabbing his shirt in one swoop and throwing it back on. Lassiter hadn't gotten up off the desk, instead he just looked at Shawn, completely put off and ready to fight about it.

"Spencer! What the hell? !"

Shawn gave the most apologetic look he could just as Gus stepped into the office holding two identical paper works. "Hey Shawn I'm back, sorry it took awhile – line up and...Detective Lassiter?"

"Afternoon Guster." Lassiter understood now, and had to fight the blush that was now burning on his neck and ears.

"Uh, good afternoon." If Gus knew what had been going on seconds before he walked in, he didn't say anything, he did however quirk his brow at the detective. "Why are you sitting on my desk?"

Lassiter paused, and looked down – surprisingly he and Shawn hadn't knocked anything over. His eye line caught the photo sitting so neatly by his side; Guster's family was smiling back at him – all wearing tacky but matching Christmas sweaters and Santa Claus hats. Christ. Lassiter was on his feet. Normally the type of excuse he came up was one he reserved for the chief whenever he was flustered, and boy was he flustered. "Well, Guster I'm sorry – but my legs really hurt, and Spencer never cleans up around here. I was afraid that if I sat down in one of those chairs I'd contract a disease of some sort..."

Gus blinked. Shawn from behind him stifled a laugh. He looked down to the side scratching the side of his head.

"Okay." Gus seemed to accept it, and he placed the bags down on Shawn's desk, Shawn having forgotten how hungry he was, suddenly remembered and didn't think twice about delving his hand into the bag and picking out the first package of fries he could grab. "So I'm guessing you're here because Shawn called you?" Gus continued.

"Shawn wanted to call me?" Lassiter repeated, he had come here on his own because he had a hunch that Shawn was going to keep digging while he slept.

"Yes!" Shawn spoke up, albeit with a fry in his mouth. He quickly finished chewing and swallowed. "I called Lassie after you left, because I had a vision about Kayla while you were gone, and I wanted him here immediately!" Another fry was popped into his mouth.

"Spencer." Lassiter grimaced a bit. "Chew with your mouth closed, and tell me right now – what vision?"

Shawn swallowed. "Kayla's motivation, I really think it was her Lassie. I learned through my vision that Kayla "turned gays back to God" for a living in her home town and considering what we know about her brother – it has to be her!"

Lassiter blinked, not really thinking about his response. "Did you have that vision while we were?..." Shawn immediately cut him off.

"Talking about the weather? Yeah!" They exchanged guilty looks.

Gus wasn't stupid however, and immediately he cursed. "On my desk guys? Cmon!"

Lassiter's face was completely red now, and he cleared his throat. Normally when Spencer explained a vision, he was sceptical and wanted nothing to do with it, today however it seemed like a good way to change the subject. "Yes well, we shouldn't waste any time. You two come with me to the station and I'll give O'Hara a call and have her bring Kayla back in."

Shawn and Gus were up and following Lassiter out the door. Shawn still being hungry, had grabbed the rest of his food, out of habit he crammed himself into the back seat beside Gus and made himself quite content in downing more fries.

"Don't spill anything." Lassiter warned, and since Gus already knew what they had been doing, Shawn decided to play a little.

"No worries Lassie-frass, I wouldn't risk ruining your car, or your tie."

Shawn lifted the collar of his t-shirt to reveal to Gus that he was still wearing Lassiter's tie around his neck. Lassiter had completely forgotten about his tie and looked down to see his tie was indeed missing from his person.

"Dude..." Gus looked a bit disconcerted. "You took his tie?"

"Spencer -give back my tie." Lassiter grumbled from the front seat. Shawn just grinned and popped another fry into his mouth.

"Yes" Shawn said simply to Gus "-and no." He finished to Lassiter. It was all Shawn had to say on the matter and finishing off his fries and grabbing for his burger -he delighted in the way Lassiter's knuckles turned white against the steering wheel.


	13. Googln Gunshots

**A/N: **An update finally! This fic is being a little bugger; it keeps hitting me with writer's block. However now that we're close to the end hopefully the block will go away. So! Having said that, you may have noticed that in a lot of my fics Shawn tends to get beat on quite a bit.

Repetitive? Yes.

Do I care? A little bit.

Shawn whumpage is my anti-drug, and worried! Lassie is my sedative. The combination of the two just make me melt into this unidentifiable goo I like to call 'fan girl soup.' It's delicious and I can't get enough of it! With that that said I happily encourage you to move on and read the chapter! Enjoy and as always please review!

~Matilda

**Googl'n' Gunshots**

Late afternoon was always a busy time for the station, when Shawn, Gus and Lassiter walked in it was unsurprising that uniforms were everywhere, answering phones and taking calls. Jules in particular was at her desk and looked a little more than stressed. When she lifted her head and saw 'the boys' come in- she didn't greet them in the usual way of a smile and a 'hey!' instead she greeted them by shooting straight up in her desk and leaning forward with her palms pressed firmly on the desk top.

"Where have you been all day? !"

The three men exchanged guilty looks and immediately started running in circles.

"Well Lassie was sleeping – Gus and I were-"

"We went for a drive to clear our heads, before heading back to the office for lunch."

"Only lunch went a little long because we decided last minute to do take out then-"

"Then I showed up there because I wanted to see if Spencer had done anything while I was sleeping – get new details, sing a song, do a dance, try the hokuspokus.."

"On my desk..."

"Unfortunately! I didn't get anything too juicy until a little earlier on. The spirits were loud, not entirely clear but I got the gist of it. My hunch rests heavily on the sister. They were different, very different – turns out she's a self proclaimed psychologist. Keeping today's teens on the 'straight' path. A little too preachy for my taste, but I can't really say much of anything on the matter. You're talking to the psychic who recently discovered his man love for Jason Segel."

Lassie's ears perked a bit; admittedly he was suddenly a little jealous. "Who?"

"An actor." Shawn explained. "A really tall and dorky but still incredibly adorable actor, I don't have a chance in hell with him though. However that's okay by me – I IMDB'd him months ago and the man loves puppets. A lot. I don't think I can handle quirks like that. Not puppets anyway." Shawn shivered a bit.

"Shawn's hated puppets ever since he got the chicken pox." Gus explained. "He got them later in life, 12, had nightmares that entire week of Kermit the Frog trying to eat him."

"It could very well happen!" Shawn defended himself – Lassiter caught himself suppressing a chuckle.

"We're losing focus." Jules shot in then. "Okay so more on the sister, she's – a psychologist you said?"

"Self proclaimed." Shawn corrected. "No formal training, no fancy diplomas."

"Okay, so she's on our suspect list now." Juliet looked a bit pleased by this. "Along with Marcus Tuly, and Peter Katrall."

"Who are both innocent." Shawn said. "Well, innocent enough. Peter's still in for that assault charge, but he didn't kill anybody."

"We're not dropping their names quite yet." Lassiter argued.

"I'm alright with that." Gus said. "I still say we're wasting time right now, are we calling in Kayla?"

"Yes." Juliet said. "We'll ask her about the psychology; see if it had anything to do with her brother."

"Sounds good." Shawn said, and he turned a bit to look at Lassiter. "I on the other hand – would like to see the body."

"What? Why?" Gus was against it, he really didn't want to see a dead Shawn clone. It was still iffy with him.

"I want to see if I can pick up any vibes off him, see what he was thinking. Maybe identify a killer that way."

"I don't see why not." Juliet said then.

"The photos weren't enough?" Lassiter asked. "You did steal them from me remember?"

"I gave them back." Shawn said. "Nothing really screamed at me in the pictures, the spirits think I need to take a more direct approach."

"Alright fine." Lassiter grumbled. "O'Hara call Kayla back, get her here. I'll be escorting Spencer to the morgue." As he said this, he reached into his desk and pulled out a freshly pressed tie. Shawn saw this and started laughing.

"Wait – hold on." Shawn demanded immediately. "You keep a spare tie in your desk? !"

Lassiter froze in place and blinked...This was a bad thing? "Uh – yes?"

Gus actually shook his head a bit, and Juliet who already knew this about Lassiter just added in innocently.

"What happened to the tie you were wearing before?" She didn't notice the silk peeking up from under Shawn's t-shirt collar.

Shawn's face cracked in a wide, open mouthed grin – but he didn't say anything, he just revelled in the way the first tie was still secure around his neck. Gus took in another deep breath and kept shaking his head. The back of Lassiter's ears went really red; he decided to change the subject. "Spencer. The morgue."

"Right!" Shawn was on board and wasted no time in following the detective, even though he was still grinning from ear to ear.

The four split up, Shawn and Lassiter left for the morgue, and Gus not really sure which way to go ended up following Juliet.

"This whole case is messing with my head." Juliet admitted suddenly, she grabbed a pile of papers and started moving them into a file folder.

"It'll be over soon." Gus promised. The two shared a look.

"What does Shawn think of this whole case anyway?" Asked Juliet then. "I haven't seen much of him since the warehouse."

"I honestly don't know." Gus said. "He's treating it like any other case, but there's something he's not saying."

"He does keep a tight seal on his emotions." Juliet agreed. "Maybe he's scared."

"Or distracted."

"Distracted? Is everything alright with him?"

Gus took a second to remember what he nearly caught Shawn and Lassiter doing back at the office. Inwardly he shivered. "Oh I'm guessing he's just great."

"You sound a little put off though." Juliet said lightly. "Are you okay with this case?"

"Oh I'm fine." Gus promised. "Shawn's been pulling most of the weight on our end."

"Yeah, same. I'm actually surprised Carlton took a break today."

"Shawn talked him into it I'm pretty sure."

"Yeah another thing, what on earth is happening with those two?"

"You don't know?" Gus teased a bit. "You seriously don't know?"

"Oh I know." Juliet nodded a bit. "It's kind of hard not to know, it's the _how_ that's bothering me. Those two...I mean those guys...I don't even know."

"Strangely perfect?" Gus offered quietly. "It's making Shawn happy, that's all I care about."

Juliet flashed him a brilliant smile. "You're such an amazing friend."

Gus blushed. "Oh well, thanks I guess...You're pretty...Well obviously pretty, but you – you're great yourself."

A moment of silence stretched between them, the fact Gus had just called Juliet pretty didn't go missed, and Juliet blushed a bit whilst clearing her throat and pulling on her shirt collar. The next time the two spoke they spoke at the same time before running off in different directions.

"I have to call in Kayla." -  
>"I have to go to my other job."<p>

It was an incredibly awkward moment between the two, but not as awkward as the way Shawn felt when he got his first real close up of Derek Atkinson. Shawn decided it was like looking into a mirror – only dead. It was a little chilling, but admitting that would be admitting that his dad was right about he felt about this whole case. So as casually as he could, Shawn shrugged it off.

"Well..." Shawn said lightly; he then thought for a second. "That's pretty, yup. No questions here. He was definitely stabbed."

Lassiter who was standing at the end of the table face palmed. "We know -anything else you'd like to throw in?"

"I'm working on it." Shawn responded just a little on the defensive. He was standing on the side of the table, looking straight down on Derek's face. Oh staring longer didn't make it any better. Shawn was sure that if he stared too long he would start imagining it was indeed him. "Lassie could you leave me alone for a minute?"

"What? Why?" Lassiter was back at attention.

"I need complete silence, god love you for it, but your breathing is a little distracting. I'll knock when I'm done; I just need a few minutes alone."

"Alright." Lassiter threw his hands up a bit in surrender before stepping out of the room. As soon as he was gone Shawn went to work, he looked good and hard at Derek taking in every detail he could find. He noticed a few things – obvious things; defensive wounds on his wrist, a scrape on his knee, a bend in his toe from breaking it, possibly years ago. Nothing was really screaming at him, until he focused in on Derek's hand. It was very faint, almost completely gone – a faded tan line on Derek's ring finger.

"Oh precious..." Shawn imitated Gollum even though there was no one around to listen; he leaned in closer to Derek's hand. Up close like this there were no questions in Shawn's mind now. Now to shamefully milk it!

Shawn went back to where he was originally standing, and took a second to mentally brace himself for his 'psychic' discovery. He started to force himself to breathe heavily, shaking his legs and waving his fingers around erratically. "Something's happening!" Shawn yelled as loud as he could. "Lassie! Lassie!"

Lassiter had heard the scream from a few feet away, and he panicked. He came bursting back into the room with his gun drawn. For some reason he was expecting to see Shawn getting attacked or kidnapped, none of these were the case. Instead Shawn was flailing around wildly, Lassiter lowered his gun and clicked the safety back on just as Shawn did a dramatic twirl towards the detective and landing in a lean against his chest. "I can see it." Shawn whimpered.

Protectively Lassiter rested a hand on Shawn's arm. "What is it? What do you see?" He had never been so compliant with Shawn's 'visions' before. He still didn't completely believe him, but hey – if they worked they worked. "Shawn?"

"Derek." Shawn took the opportunity to nuzzle himself into Lassiter's chest. "He was married."

Lassiter frowned, "No he's not."

"Yes he was!" Shawn argued immediately, he stood up then to face Lassiter directly. Lassiter felt the loss of Shawn no longer leaning on him, oddly depressing, but right now they had more important things to discuss.

"Shawn, I've pulled up everything I could about this man the second I found out who he was. There's no record of him ever being married."

"But he was, Lassie I swear it. When you talk to Kayla, ask her. Derek Atkinson was previously attached to someone."

Lassiter sighed and holstered his gun. "I'm having a hard time believing you." He grumbled. "How could he possibly be married? Forgive me for saying so, but aside from the fact there's no marriage licence to be pulled up, from everything I've gathered from him – he wasn't exactly Mr. Monogamy."

"Maybe he wasn't married." Shawn said. "I'm seeing a union though." He clasped his hands together. "Two people making promises to each other, to stay strong and true to the other. An engagement maybe, however there's no ring to speak of, so I'm guessing that stage is passed. A messy break up, where there's a messy break up..."

"There's an angry ex." Lassiter finished. "Okay." He was on board with Shawn's idea. "I will get back to Kayla, and see what she has to say."

"Good!" Shawn smiled, and the two left back for the station. By the time they got there, Kayla was in the interrogation room. She looked rather stoic and was drumming her fingers against the table top impatiently.

"Ms. Atkinson." Lassiter greeted. "Welcome back."

"Have you found who did it yet?" Kayla wasted no time in cutting to the chase.

"No." Lassiter said. "There are a few loose ends; I was hoping you could answer a few more questions."

"Like?"

"Tell me about your brother's love life."

"Excuse me? !" Kayla was offended. "What the hell does his love life have to do with getting murdered?"

"You tell me." Lassiter crossed his arms. "You tell me about his love life, also tell me all about your life's work as a 'psychologist'. Don't forget to somehow mention that despite you and your brother's differences, it still wasn't motivation for you to stab him."

"If I stabbed him, I wouldn't have given you my finger prints." Kayla pointed out.

"Alright fine, now his love life. Anything recent?"

"No one I know of." Kayla said... "Except for Brad."

"There's a Brad?"

"There _was_ a Brad." Kayla concluded. "They weren't anything serious; at least Derek said they weren't. Brad was emotional, and clingy. He honestly believed Derek would be by his side forever. He even bought a stupid ring. Derek told him over a hundred times he was polyandrous. I think he took the stupid ring just to shut Brad up."

"Did he wear the ring?"

"Sometimes. When he was out with Brad. Never at home, and he didn't bring it with him to Santa Barbara."

"You said Brad was emotional."

"A fucking Baby." Kayla shook her head. "We haven't heard from him in months though. He finally got the idea Derek wasn't just his when he caught Derek sleeping with some waitress from Denny's."

Lassiter revelled in that answer a bit. This information was new and juicy. He loved it. Scorned by love? It seemed like a great motivation for murder to Lassiter. However there was still a problem. "Brad doesn't live in Santa Barbara does he?"

Kayla just shook her head. "He doesn't I'm afraid, sorry boss." She gave a casual shrug and Lassiter had to keep from snarling at the girl.

"May I at least know Brad's full name?"

"Brad Donavan." Kayla answered.

Lassiter thought about that for a second, out of habit his eyes slid up to the mirror where he knew O'Hara would be watching, probably with Shawn and Gus. He wasn't getting anything more from Kayla so he decided to wrap it up. "Alright Ms. Atkinson we're done here for now – you can head back to your hotel."

"Gladly!" Kayla huffed and she stood following Lassiter's lead. "You'll still call me after you find anything?"

"Of course." Lassiter kept formal.

They made their back into the main part of the station where Shawn and the others were already waiting. Kayla saw Shawn but didn't make anything of it; he already proved to her that he was working on the case –it was old news this point. Her attention turned then to the other detective who greeted Kayla with a handshake.

"Thank you so much for coming in Ms. Atkinson."

"Oh." Kayla put on a bit of a smile for Juliet. "It was no problem; I'm in Santa Barbara for as long as the police need me."

"That's great!" Shawn suddenly piped in, and he then lowered his voice speaking directly to Kayla. "I'm sorry if this questioning period got a little personal, I saw Derek's ring in my mind – and I encouraged detective Lassiter here to see if it meant anything important regarding the case."

"Oh it's not a problem." Kayla smiled. "You keep up the good work Prof. X."

"Ha!" Shawn showed signs of Glee. "X-mean reference – love it!"

"Right, well I'm off." Kayla turned her attention to everyone else. "I'll see you all later I guess." She turned on her heel and made for the exit, McNab had been coming from the opposite direction and the two bumped shoulders. "Sorry." Kayla said lightly, and he kept on walking. McNab just offered the others a friendly wave before moving on to another uniform to share a few words.

"I think Gus and I are going to head out." Shawn announced then. "Regroup at Psych, call you as soon as anything pops up."

"Sounds good." Juliet said. "I have some more paper work to do anyway."

"And I have to go to the chief for permission before I try pulling anything up on Brad Donavan." The four again split up, and going to the chief was the first thing Lassiter did.

"It's a stretch." The chief argued with him. "According to Kayla Atkinson's statements it's been months since they've had contact with him."

"Spencer's vision was right though." Lassiter argued, and this caused the chief to raise a brow. "Spot on, our victim was engaged to him and also according to the statement he was emotional."

"Lots of people are emotional, it's not enough."

Shot down.

"It's no good." Lassiter grumbled a bit when he sat back down at his desk. "She's right it's a stretch."

"Seems like another wall." Juliet agreed. "What do you think we should do now?"

Lassiter held in an aggravated sigh. "I'll get back to you on that one."

Shawn and Gus weren't having any more luck. They went back to Psych to do some digging of their own. It seemed Brad Donavan was an upstanding citizen.

"Nadda." Shawn sighed. "There's no way its him." He leaned back in his chair. "Google is only good so many times."

Gus had to laugh; here they were back in their office searching someone up. "Dejavu." Gus commented. "I think we should call it a day."

"No we're just getting started!" Said Shawn, "Come sit. Google with me. Think with me."

Gus made a face and then shrugged. "Maybe, but I have a bottle of water in the car. I'm going to grab it." He stretched his arms a bit and headed out.

He wasn't gone for five seconds before he came back in a slow crawl, Shawn blinked. "Gus?"

"Uh, sorry dude." Gus just shook his head and stepped to the side, revealing Kayla who had been walking behind him with a gun pointed. She motioned the gun between Gus and a chair. "Sit."

"Man!" Shawn spoke up then, and he stood. "I knew it! Damn this is bad timing!"

"Shut up!" Kayla ordered. "Get up, hands over your head – go stand by your friend."

Shawn didn't do as he was told, not at first. He looked Kayla over fully, taking in the gun. He recognized it immediately. He didn't see that gun nearly as many times as he saw Lassie's but he recognized it none the less. "Hey that's McNab's! How did you...?" He then remembered who she brushed by on the way out of the station and he seethed a bit. "Sneaky..little..." He shook his head.

"Hey!" Kayla snapped. "Were you not listening to me? Get over there and stand next to your friend now!"

"Hmm..." Shawn started walking to stand next to Gus. "How do we know you're not bluffing with that thing?"

Kayla just cocked her head and fired two warning shots. They were loud; it forced Shawn and Gus to put their hands over their ears.

"You just had to keep digging didn't you?" Kayla snapped. "You couldn't just leave this an open case; no instead you keep calling me and calling me!"

"Well that is how an investigation works." Shawn pointed out. "You can't just kill people and hope for the best."

"Shut up!" Kayla didn't fire another shot instead she marched right over to them both and used the butt of the gun to knock Gus out cold. Gus made a pathetic little 'oof' before slumping in his chair. This did not fare well with Shawn.

"Gus!" Shawn hollered and on instinct he moved to be closer to his friend, however Kayla stopped him with another motion from her gun.

"Leave him!" She ordered. "You're coming with me!"

Shawn didn't say anything, he just clenched his jaw and followed Kayla – Gus would be alright. He was just knocked out. He followed Kayla outside, Kayla hiding the gun under her shirt. "Try to run and I'll kill you where you stand." Kayla told him. "Throw your phone."

"My phone?" Shawn repeated.

"Yes, your phone." Kayla said more sternly. "Take it out of your pocket, and throw it."

Shawn cursed to himself, but he did as he was told. Kayla then motioned to a little silver pathfinder parked near the Psych office. "Get in."

Shawn wasn't sure where they were going; he just hoped that someone figured it out soon. He had a feeling that if Kayla had her way, he'd end up like Derek.

Back at the station Lassiter was on edge, he had a good amount of paper work to do and not enough time to do it. He was sitting down at his desk and getting ready to stay there a good 3-4 hours, McNab walked by then looking a little distressed. "Detective Lassiter?"

"McNab?"

"Have you seen my gun?"

Lassiter blinked. "Why would I have seen it? You didn't draw it did you?"

"Not exactly...I just can't find it."

That couldn't be good, McNab was a little disorganized but he's never lost his gun before. Lassiter racked his brain for a second and it took a few seconds, but he finally remembered that Kayla had 'bumped' into the cop on her way out the door.

"Son of a bitch!" Lassiter grumbled, everything clicked – Shawn had been right. What's worse, is just as Lassiter came to the conclusion the dispatcher sounded off with reports of a shot being fired, the address? Psych.

"Carlton!" Juliet was up first. "That's Shawn's office, we have to go!"

Lassiter didn't need to be told twice; he was up and running along with O'Hara. They raced across town in his cruiser being followed closely by a few police cars. The door to Psych was still wide open when they skidded to a halt by the front entrance. Lassiter and O'Hara along with a few uniforms moved in formation, Lassiter was the first one inside aiming his gun in all directions. The only thing he saw was Guster knocked out. No Shawn. This made Lassiter extremely nervous, involuntarily he swallowed before yelling out. "Clear!"

The others slipped inside then, Juliet didn't hold back her gasp when she saw Gus knocked out and she ran straight to him and kneeling down to examine his head. "Gus - Gus!"

Gus started to stir a bit, he could hear Juliet – she was calling him. "Hmmm?" His eyes started to open, and the eyes he woke up to were wide and bright, and filled with concern. A warm fluffy feeling started to fill his chest; he almost smiled if he hadn't immediately remembered Shawn and Kayla. "Damn..." Gus started to stand.

"No!" Juliet stopped him. "Don't move! Sit down; tell us what happened – are you alright?"

"Peachy." Gus lied. "We can't stay here, Kayla has Shawn I think...She had a gun."

"We know." Lassiter said, he wasn't handling this whole missing Shawn scenario. It had happened before, and even then Lassiter had had trouble concentrating – and now that feelings were involved...oh boy. "Do you have any idea where she might be taking him?"

Gus winced, his head really hurt but he had to think. Juliet lightly touched a hand to his head in a soothing manner – he really appreciated that. "I really don't..." Oh but he did. "Davis Tuly." Gus said then.

"That old man?" Lassiter grumbled a bit. "How?"

"They were involved." Gus winced again. "Kayla and him – I know the address."

"Tell me."


	14. This Grave is Not a Home

**Authors Note: **It's been a long – LONG while. But here it is – the last chapter. I cannot put into words the euphoria I currently feel. Maybe the last chapter isn't as long as some people would like it to be considering the length of my unplanned hiatus, but I am very VERY pleased with the content and find it to be a very fitting end. Again I do not apologize for my Shawn!hurt fetish and just hope that you all enjoy it as much as I do. LONG LIVE SHASSIE!

Also, this is the last chapter so reviews are **MANDATORY!**

Cheers!

~Matilda

P.S

Just kidding about the mandatory thing...hehe (kind of...)

**This Grave isn't a Home.**

Kayla had kept her gun trained on Shawn the entire drive and she had taken Shawn all the way back to Davis Tuly's house. Like it had been earlier, the place looked shut in. All the curtains drawn, and every door and window were definitely locked – it was the perfect place for Kayla to end Shawn. This was not a detail that brought Shawn a lot of re-assurance.

"You don't want to do this." They were the first words that had made it from Shawn's mind to his mouth, and they seemed to achieve the desired effect. Kayla's eyes side glanced to him and she shook her head.

"You don't know the first thing about me."

"I know you're hesitating." Shawn challenged. "I mean, if you weren't – why are we still in the car?"

It was true, Kayla had parked right in the driveway of the Tuly house, but they hadn't moved, they remained in the vehicle for about 3 minutes now and Shawn saw that as weakness, a weakness he hoped to extort.

"Waiting for the signal." Kayla muttered. "I suggest you stop talking and start making peace with your maker. This will all be over soon enough psychic."

Shawn debated saying something, and would've actually worked up the nerve to tell Kayla he wasn't exactly a believer. However with McNab's gun still trained on him and with Kayla's sudden stony expression Shawn decided against it. Instead he looked straight ahead to the house; just as one of the curtains got pushed aside briefly and Shawn could see Davis waving them in.

"Stay in the car." Kayla made her order clear and she took a second to prep the gun under her shirt casually, she exited the vehicle and came around to Shawn's side opening the door for him. Shawn of course noticed the gun was still pointed at him from under her shirt. "Walk towards the house."

Shawn did as he was told, not really sure what else to do. In theory he could break into a run but the fact of the matter was, Kayla could probably run just as fast, and Kayla had a gun. Shawn decided his best bet was to bide time. He could sort of tell Kayla was hesitating and he intended to keep trying to milk it. Getting out of the car, Shawn held his hands up to show that he was being perfectly compliant. "See this? I'm walking."

Shawn made light steps for the door, and noted Kayla watching him intently from his peripheral vision as she walked behind him. The door to the house was opened before he could lay his on the doorknob and Davis was waiting, eagerly ushering them in.

"Davis." Shawn greeted in a tight voice, his hands still help up at chest level. "It's uh – nice to see you again, I guess."

"Don't snark!" Davis spat. "Did you make peace yet?"

"Make peace?" Shawn repeated. "Oh yeah, Kayla told me in the car. Davis – you don't want to do this really? You're how old? If you get caught, there's no chance. You WILL die behind bars. You're really risking your last few years just because of something derogatory?"

"I'm willing to risk my last few years, not for what you are, but because of what you did to my son."

"Marcus made his own decisions." Shawn said. "Let's not forget, he's older than me. He sought me out. I had nothing to do with it; your son is as gay as the day is long."

The first shot went off then, apparently Kayla had heard enough. The bullet lodged itself into Shawn's side and Shawn was brought to his knees in pain. He cursed loudly, really not expecting Kayla to shoot so soon. The pain eventually faded into bewilderment, and Shawn was hunched over on his knees completely astounded he had so much blood, I mean – it was everywhere.

"My son is nothing like you." Davis said. "You have him under some disgusting spell. Admit it; you're trying to take his soul."

Logic? Gone! Kayla had shot him, all bets were officially off. Shawn was bleeding profusely, and he was getting pretty sick and tired of being spoken too like he was a lesser person. So with currently nothing to lose anger boiled over despite the searing pain, Shawn talked back between grunts. "Totally." Shawn said. "I want his soul all to myself, and then when I'm done. I'm coming after yours. How about it Mr. Tuly? You feel like dropping trow and getting a piece of this? Now you're old I understand, so I'll be real gentle and I'll try not to throw out that bad hip of yours."

"Disgusting, dirty, faggot!" Davis yelled, and this time instead of Kayla shooting him, Davis had walked over to Shawn in his rage and proceeded to beat Shawn relentlessly with his cane.

The hits didn't hurt as much as they should've, maybe because Shawn was already bleeding from a gunshot wound, or maybe it was because Davis was old enough there was no way he was capable of hitting Shawn as hard as he wanted too. The first view hits landed with enough force to leave bruises on Shawn's back, but from then on out it was just dull thud after dull thud. Shawn managed to lift his head to glance up at Kayla who looked as stony as ever. She met his gaze and Shawn had to wonder if she still wanted to do this... "Kayla..." Shawn tried between hits from the old man's cane. "Help me."

Kayla bit her lip, and for a second considered interfering. She already knew she was going to hell for killing her brother, but maybe if she helped Shawn...things would be better? She didn't know. She watched as Davis continued to hit Shawn with his cane and had to stick with him. Davis had been good to her, treated her well, and helped her try to convert Derek. He was a good man, Kayla loved him. So when Shawn finally managed to speak and ask for help, Kayla's conviction was made, she was sticking by Davis. She fired a warning shot, watching the bullet ricochet off the floor near Shawn's hand.

"Shut up!" Kayla said. "When Davis is done, I'm killing you."

Shawn's mouth opened and he looked like he might say something, but by then the blood loss had become too much. Kayla watched in an odd fascination as Shawn's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped into a worthless heap.

Lassiter wasn't far off, Guster had given him the address and as soon as backup arrived to see to Guster's medical attention, the detective was making haste to his cruiser. He would not – repeat would _not _let Shawn get killed. Lord knew he was probably already hurt. "O Hara!" Lassiter called back into the Psych office. "Hurry up or I'm leaving without you!"

Juliet was still by Gus, a giant part of her refusing to leave his side in this condition, he had a concussion. However not much else could be done on her part, Carlton's loud call was enough to jolt her to her feet. A couple uniforms by then had arrived and were calling a paramedic. "Take good care of him." Juliet urged and she gave Gus another look over before running out to meet her partner.

"Detectives!"

The two were barely inside the vehicle when Marcus Tuly came running up to Lassiter's driver's window.

"Let me come with you." Marcus cut right to the chase.

"No." Lassiter grumbled. "How did you even know we were here? Why the hell are you even here!" Despite the situation, Lassiter hated the idea of another man, let alone Marcus hanging around Shawn's office.

"I had a feeling." Marcus said. "I know about my dad and Kayla, I heard about the gun shots – this is my fault. I have to make this right."

"You're damn right this is your fault." Lassiter said. "Now step back or I won't think twice about running over your feet, you're wasting my time Tuly."

"Carlton!" Juliet snapped. "It's no one's fault! Got it? Marcus look – this is serious, Carlton's right you're wasting time, we can't have you come with us. Not with your dad involved. Now step back!"

Marcus had no choice then but to take a step back from the car, and no sooner did he was Lassiter putting the car into drive and speeding off.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Shawn was barely there, but he was still there enough that when Kayla started shaking him and kicking at him to wake him up his eyes opened. "It's time." Kayla said, and surprisingly strong she grabbed Shawn by his shirt and started to drag him towards the back of the house.

How long had he been out for? Shawn wasn't sure, all he knew is that when Kayla finally dragged him out the backdoor, the first thing Shawn saw was an open grave.

"Executioner style?" Wasn't that a little dramatic? Shawn couldn't say much more, his side had stopped bleeding but it still throbbed continuously and he was still barely conscience.

She dragged him right to the edge of the grave and let him slump there. That's when Shawn started to focus a little more, it was still midday, he couldn't have been out for too long, this grave had been here for days now probably. It was the only slightly logical sense of thinking Shawn had in that moment.

"On your knees." Davis spoke up; it seemed he wasn't willing to do a sloppy job.

Shawn however had no strength to do anything, if they were going to kill him, why not do it already? He didn't move. Couldn't move.

"Didn't you hear me? !" Davis yelled. "On your knees! What the hell is wrong with yo-"

Davis didn't finish his sentence, something Shawn was thankful for. Only he cut off pretty fast...

"Davis!" Kayla screamed, and Shawn had no idea what was happening. He was too delirious to even notice, one second Kayla was behind him and the next she was pushing him aside to run to Davis. The push was enough Shawn wasn't surprised when he fell into the grave. He landed in another heap, and he again passed out, the last thing he heard being Kayla's anguished screams.

Kayla was at Davis' side in less than a second it was evident Davis was having a heart attack and she had no idea what to do, except scream and attempt CPR. "Davis! Davis!" Kayla yelled. "Don't you fucking die on me! We still have work to do dammit!" She pressed her hands against his chest and started pushing repeatedly. It wasn't working, it wasn't working! "Davis!" Kayla was in tears and she kept pressing, Davis didn't deserve to die, not like this. "Don't die!"

Oh but the stubborn old man wasn't listening, he was already long gone, and Kayla had broken. The situation was spiralling out of control, she needed to be back in control. Taking a deep breath she calmed herself. "I'll keep working for both of us." Kayla promised. A quick check of Davis' pulse showed that the heart attack had killed him and Kayla was in too much shock to really think. So like she had with Derek before, she didn't think -she acted. She grabbed for her gun and stood, and covering her eyes made a shot at Davis' head. The bullet made a disgusting cracking sound on impact and Davis' blood came spilling out in a slow puddle around his head. "Murder suicide." Kayla chanted to herself, that's how she was going to make this look, then? She was running. Running as far away as she could.

In her stupor she completely forgot to check on Shawn, but seeing as how he was already shot and in a hole, it was only a matter of time. She knelt by Davis and started using his shirt to clean the finger prints off her gun with every intention of putting the gun in Davis' hand when she was done.

"Drop it!"

Lassiter had driven like the devil, being too focused on the road and finding Shawn to really think of anything else. Juliet had to be the one to grab the radio and announce where they were heading and request back up. A couple uniforms had caught up to them by the time they had reached Davis Tuly's house but Lassiter didn't necessarily care as he went straight for the door. Only he didn't reach the door, he heard a gunshot sound off from the back. Lassiter's stomach dropped and the only thought that crossed his mind was Shawn. "No..." He changed his path, heading to the back of the house while grabbing his gun.

"Carlton!" Juliet called after him; she had to act as the voice of reason. "Hold on we don't want to surprise her!"

"Speak for yourself." Lassiter snapped a bit at his partner, all he knew was that Shawn was back there, and hurt, and he would be damned if he let it go any further. He rounded the house immediately aiming for Kayla. "Drop it!"

Kayla was a blubbering mess. Lassiter had come into the back yard expecting to see Kayla posed as a typical villain, only instead he came into chaos. Right away he saw Davis dead, with Kayla busily using the hem of his shirt to wipe off McNab's gun. The hole in the ground wasn't fresh, it had been dug up days ago, and Lassiter swallowed noting the small trail of blood leading from the back door to the grave. He knew. He knew Shawn was in there. His arm started to shake, and he forced himself to scream again. "I said drop it!"

Kayla froze, that was the detective- she was caught. It was over. "I...Oh fuck." She released the gun and stood slowly, her hands instinctively going up into the air.

Juliet was the one who cuffed her and announced her rights; Kayla remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. An officer had joined them in the back and was now helping to escort Kayla to a squad car, while a couple more officers went over to Davis. It took Lassiter a second to realize it was over; Derek's killer was caught – which only left Shawn. The grave. Lassiter switched the safety of his gun on and holstered it making quick steps towards the hole. He didn't want to look inside, he was too afraid. Part of him believed Shawn would've been long dead by now, but he had to do his job. Lassiter peered down and took his first glimpse. The grave was narrow, no where near big enough for two people, and Shawn lay in the bottom bloody and motionless. Lassiter choked and his breathing hitched quite a bit. Normally it took quite a bit to get the detective to do anything other than his job when on duty. However in that moment, it wasn't detective Lassiter on scene, it was just Carlton in a near panic at what he was seeing. This time he wasn't looking at a doppelganger, he was looking at Shawn. This time god wasn't playing a cruel joke on him -or was he? Lassiter didn't know, or care for that matter. He just wanted to disappear. Shawn was gone.

"Sir?"

The voice barely registered, and only when it did, did Lassiter realize that a few tears had made it down his cheeks. He attempted a swallow and turned to face the officer. "Jenkins?"

"We put a call in for two ambulances and a rescue team to get Mr. Spencer out from there -is there anything else you need?"

_A shot to the head?_

"No." Lassiter said. "Just make sure the rescue team are permitted first entry, I want Spencer out of that hole as soon as possible. I want him declared before..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Before what sir?"

"I want him declared before I call his family."

Jenkins gave a silent nod and went out to make the call over his radio, which left Lassiter to stare aimlessly at Shawn. How long had it been? 3 maybe 4 minutes? Shit.

Shawn was coming back, he wasn't sure for how long but he was coming back. The pain in his side was still tearing at him, and all he wanted was to just be able to go to sleep, but something kept nagging at him to stay aware and to keep focusing on his breathing. Did he imagine the whole thing? He couldn't tell. He couldn't open his eyes either, he was afraid of what he might see if he did. However he did move his hand, instinctively his fingers touched on where he had been shot. That sticky substance? Definitely not jello. He wanted it to be jello. Not the red kind. He much preferred green. What an odd thing to be thinking about right now...Mmm jello... Shawn was going back under, and he hoped he would dream of jello – green jello.

"Shawn! ? Shawn!"

Ugh... Where was all that yelling coming from? Shawn was not amused. He wanted to sleep, and he wanted jello dammit. He didn't have time for headaches.

"Shawn!"

God dammit, shut up up there!

"Shawn answer me!"

Wait...was that Lassie?

Shawn tried opening his eyes, but it was much too bright, he didn't Lassie he just saw a tall figure standing very high above him. How he knew it was Lassie was anyone's guess. Now how did Lassie get that high? It took a second to register, but it came then. The ground beneath Shawn was moist and a bit jagged, and the air around him smelled rich. His other hand fell limply to his side and he felt dirt, was he in a hole?

He didn't have the physical strength to answer Lassie, but he kept moving his hand as best he could and hoped it'd be good enough.

Lassiter was having a near break down; he had been convincing himself and ripping himself apart with the thought of Shawn being dead. But no sooner when Jenkins left did he see Shawn's hand come to his side. He started calling Shawn's name but got no answer. Shawn just kept moving his fingers. Lassiter's heart was stuck in his throat and it took every bit of logic he had not to jump into that hole. The grave was much too small, and if he jumped, he'd land on Shawn hurting him more. So when the rescue team arrived, Lassiter made himself feel better by shouting orders.

One very complicated pulley system later, and Shawn was being lifted out of the grave carefully and lied down on a stretcher. Lassiter was still completely lost, and very put off when he _still _couldn't get near enough to Shawn to see him.

"Detective stay back and let us do our job!"

They had moved Shawn from the back of the house to the street, and while Davis' body was being carried away in one ambulance, the paramedics were still tending to Shawn hear the other. The rescue team was still packing up and filling out their reports. People by now were coming out to stand on their front lawns and stare at the scene and Lassiter was starting to feel on edge. He noted Kayla still cuffed in a squad car with Juliet waiting patiently near the cruiser.

"We need to take her in." Juliet reminded him. "This was our case."

Lassiter glanced to the ambulance still tending to Shawn, he had to wait to see him, and he still had to call Henry, christ was he drained. "You drive." Lassiter didn't think twice about handing Juliet the keys. "Let's get this over with."

Kayla's statement was chilling. When she finally talked, she confessed fully to Derek's murder. She had brought her brother to Santa Barbara to meet Davis. The two had met online and Davis was so impressed with her work that he offered to help her 'heal' Derek upon their first meeting. Davis and Derek hadn't taken kindly to each other at all, Davis hated the fact Derek looked like Shawn, and Derek was so angered by what his sister had tried to do, had followed Marcus to the warehouse party that night. He followed Macus, and Kayla followed him. That's when she noted Derek had dropped the letter opener and grabbed it for herself.

"A caught up with Derek in the street. Told him I needed to talk to him privately. We went into the other ware house, and he decided it was a good idea to climb up onto the plat forms. No idea why, but I followed him even though he told me not too. I think he knew what I was planning."

"He didn't run though?" Lassiter asked. "I mean, if I thought someone was about to kill me, I'd probably run."

"Derek was way too optimistic. I guess he figured if he kept a distance he could talk some sense into me. It didn't work. I knew what he was, and I knew why he chose Marcus that night. It's that stupid psychic's fault! I climbed up those platforms and I stuck that letter opener right into his throat. I booked it then."

Lassiter held back the urge to slap her. "Then we called you back here."

"Yes, and that's when I first met the psychic. The resemblance just – Davis hadn't lied to me. I had no idea he worked with the police. He got too invested; I didn't want to get caught. That's when Davis hatched the plan to take him, we both needed him gone. I dug the hole, I went to his office, I grabbed him."

"You left his friend alive." Juliet spoke up then, really Kayla could have shot Gus down, but she didn't and Juliet wanted to know why.

"Davis and I had planned on running; we had plane tickets for tonight. We were going to take refuge in my church, wait for the heat to die off, and change our names. I left the friend alive because he wasn't dirty. Davis said I should've killed him too but- while I was here I went to a local church. I saw him there, and knew that after all this he'd be saved."

This time it was Juliet's turn to frown, it was an odd reason not to kill someone as opposed to other, but with Kayla's thought process Juliet supposed she should just be glad.

The confession ended and Lassiter was as white as a ghost, nothing but concern showed in his face and Juliet could tell by the way his fingers twitched constantly that all he wanted to do was jump into his car and go see Shawn.

"Go." Juliet finally urged him when they got back to their desks. "I'll give Gus a call later, and I'll get started on the paper work okay?"

Lassiter breathed in a long sigh; O'Hara may not be psychic but bless her for her sympathetic tendencies. "Thank you." Was all Lassiter managed to say before grabbing for his keys and heading for his car.

The paramedics did an awesome job stitching Shawn up. After a blood transfusion, a long rest, and an ice pack to help with his bruises he was sitting quite comfortably in his room. Gus was at his side, with a bandage wrapped around his head and slouched in a wheel chair. The two were currently watching Wheel of Fortune.

"Honey I Shrunk the Kids." Shawn called the title a good five moves before the game contestant did, and for the third time Gus groaned.

"You won't let me get one will you?" Gus complained.

"Hell no." Shawn countered. "It's my lifelong dream to compete and become a millionaire."

Gus grinned a bit. "As soon as you get that money, we're hitting up Barbados."

"Exactly!" Shawn sounded excited, his voice then going high pitched. "Give me some love." The two fist bumped. "Diggin your bandage by the way, and the wheel chair."

"Oh yeah." Gus chuckled. "The wheel chair is hospital policy, the bandage? For fun."

"Why for fun?" Shawn was curious.

"You're the one who always said that if we ever end up doing the hospital epilogue scene we both need to do our best to look the part. So I sweet talked a nurse."

Shawn grinned, and then chuckled. "She did a very nice job."

"He did a nice job." Gus corrected. "Got very upset with me when I told him I liked girls though." He had to laugh a little.

"Hold that thought." Shawn turned his attention back to the television. "Last puzzle... hmmmm...Omnipresent!" Sure enough the last word was omnipresent.

"Nice!" Gus exclaimed and again they fist bumped, this time adding an explosion to it.

That's when the door opened and Lassiter stepped in. The room went very quiet then. Shawn knew that Lassiter had his job to do, but he was starting to wonder if and when the detective would show up. Needless to say he was happy to see him. "Lassie."

Lassiter didn't say anything, and Gus pursing his lips decided to make his leave. "I'll be in the waiting area."

Lassiter stepped out of his way as Gus rolled out of the room, and promptly closed the door behind him. "Shawn..." He paused.

"It's okay." Shawn said then. "There's no one else here."

If Shawn wanted some sappy moment, he wasn't getting it. Lassiter had a million things to say and he was never very good at the whole emotion thing. Instead he started rambling.

"None of this would've happened if you hadn't dated that Marcus guy or whatever the hell his name is, I should be arresting him right now! But am I? No. I'm here! Visiting you, you who are stuck in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound in your side and-"

"And cane bruises on my back." Shawn offered.

"And cane bruises on your back!" Lassiter continued. "Do you have any idea how - ...cane bruises?"

"Yeah." Shawn was very casual. "Why do you think I'm prepped up like this? Old man beat me with his cane."

"I...oh dear god..." Lassiter trailed off, he hadn't known and definitely wasn't expecting that. "What the...Spencer what the hell? !"

Shawn ignored the brief pain in his back and shrugged. "I was just pulled along for the ride."

Lassiter's shoulders dropped. Good god he was a mess. "Spencer."

"Shut up." Shawn said. "Not another word."

Lassiter seethed a bit, great just great, he failed to show any sign of sympathy and now Shawn was mad at him. Did he grovel now? "Shawn I'm sor-"

"Kiss me you idiot." Shawn used the tone Lassiter normally used, and not used to hearing Shawn sound that aggressive, Lassiter felt the tips of his ears turning red. He moved over to Shawn's bedside, and bent down to touch his lips against Shawn's. Only to be stopped by Shawn's index finger. "Hold on." Shawn said. "Three more seconds."

Lassiter felt like an idiot, but he did what Shawn said. He counted until three. As soon as he was done counting, Shawn took his finger away and Lassiter finally got to kiss him. He held gently placed his hand on Shawn's shoulder and kissed Shawn for as long as Shawn was willing to kiss back. For someone in a hospital bed, Shawn's kiss was oddly enthusiastic, but Lassiter paid no mind. He took that as a good sign and revelled in the way the tip of Shawn's tongue danced along his bottom lip begging entrance. Lassiter had every intention of obliging, of course – that's when the door opened and Henry came in carrying three coffees.

"Okay, so hospital coffee is the equivalent to liquid crap, so I went down the street. I got Gus his usual and decided you didn't need caffeine so I got you a..."

There was a long pause, and though Lassiter had pulled away from Shawn his lips were still hovering close.

"Carlton." Henry's voice sounded more stern than surprised.

"Henry." Lassiter noted that Shawn was silently laughing, and he glared at him. Little jerk planned this.

"It's a...nice to see you." Henry went on.

"The pleasures all mine." Oh Lassiter felt silly.

"You get a haircut?" Henry asked.

"Erm – no?"

"Ah, I couldn't tell. I'm not normally graced with the pleasure of talking to the back of your head." Lassiter really couldn't tell if Henry was joking or not. He stood, and straightening his tie, turned to face the older man. Henry's face held the same stoic impression it normally did, but no one could mistake the twitch at the side of his mouth. He recognized that twitch as Shawn's. Henry was on the verge of giving a shit eating grin. That explains where Shawn got it from. Thankfully, the older Spencer had more self control.

"Five minutes." Henry said then, and he meant business. "I'm leaving this room for exactly five minutes, then you're going back to work and Shawn is getting rest, do I make myself clear Carlton?"

"Crystal." Lassiter kept his face straight; Henry gave a curt nod and left the room.

"Slightly mortifying?" Shawn asked. "Do you need a new pair of pants?" He joked.

"You planned that." Lassiter accused immediately. "I swear to god you planned that."

"I deny everything." Shawn countered. "Now hurry up and get back here, we only have five minutes."

Lassiter rolled his eyes, but regardless went right back to Shawn's side. Shawn was aggressive, and leaving no words simply yanked on Lassiter's tie pulling him in for more kisses. It wasn't the sweet sappy moment at the end of most chick flicks, but Lassiter was okay with that. He kissed Shawn for all he was worth, cupping the other man's face and drawing him as close as he could. Shawn was alive, and he was the best thing Lassiter had ever tasted. ~

**Epilogue**

It was a few days before Shawn's bruises were faded enough that he could go home. He was given a few pain killers to help with his stitches as they healed, and on the way back to his apartment his dad had been nice enough to stop at the pharmacy to grab a few ice packs to help him sleep. Of course it was only Henry trying to get Shawn to stay with him. "You'll recover better at my house."

"I want to stay at my place." Shawn argued. "Besides, if I need anything I can just call you, Gus or Lassie."

"You still have bruises on your back." Henry didn't make a question. "If you're not calling me – call Gus. Gus can keep it in his pants."

Shawn grinned. "Do I sense some long overdue fatherly protectiveness?"

"You're a grown man Shawn, I don't care what you do with Carlton, but I swear to god if he can't keep it to himself long enough for you to recover and you end up with permanent back damage I will pistol whip the crap out of him!" Henry's knuckles went white against the steering wheel.

Shawn started laughing.

"I'm serious Shawn!"

"Just pull over. We're here."

They came up to Shawn's apartment, and Shawn was the first one out of the truck. Henry followed him towards his door carrying his duffel bag and he kept reminding Shawn he didn't live that far away. Only Shawn wasn't listening anymore, instead he was grabbing for the envelope someone had taped to his door. He recognized Marcus' hand writing on the front of it.

Shawn

"Shawn?"

Shawn turned to face his dad, quickly putting the envelope into the back of his waist band. If Henry had seen it, he didn't say anything. "Sorry dad, I'm just tired. I think I'm going to slide on an ice pack and get some sleep."

Henry softened – albeit just a little. "Okay, call me later. I'll bring you dinner."

"Deal." Shawn agreed and bid his dad good bye. He waited until Henry's truck was out of site before he let himself into his apartment and grabbed for the envelope.

_~I'm sorry about what happened, and I can't help but feel responsible. I honestly didn't know what to think about everything. Despite everything, I still love my dad and am absolutely appalled at what he was doing right before he died. I really hope he's at peace now. With that said, I'm glad you're okay and I'm glad this whole stupid mess is over. So I'm saying goodbye. There's nothing for me here in Santa Barbara, so I'm getting on a bus as soon as I deliver this letter. My number is at the bottom; please call me if you need anything, and I mean anything. I owe you so much, I don't care how degrading. _

_`Marcus._

The letter ended there and Shawn sighed; now he really did feel tired. Marcus did always have that over bearing effect on it. He folded the letter and not really thinking about it, slid it into his junk drawer just as a knock came to his door. He smiled when it was Lassie, Lassie who was holding a pineapple, and plush doll made up to look like a cop.

"Where on earth did you get that?" Shawn gestured to the doll – but he reached for the pineapple.

"Don't you dare laugh!" Lassiter said right away as the pineapple slipped out of his hand and into Shawn's. "But I spent 3 hours, and close to $100 at one of those claw machines at the arcade. Gus told me you had your eye on this plush doll forever and..." Lassiter's face went completely red. "Do you know how hard those games are to beat! ?"

As Lassie ordered, Shawn didn't laugh. Instead he smiled and took the plush doll in his other hand. "Why would I possibly laugh Lassie?" Shawn's voice was sickly sweet, and he already forgot about Marcus' letter. "After you went through all that trouble to bring me Lassie Jr."

"What's this now?" Shawn was naming a stupid doll after him? Lassiter wasn't sure he was cool with that, but Shawn was already waltzing through his apartment with Lassiter on his heels, and Lassiter watched as Shawn placed the plush doll neatly on another wise very messy bed. The pineapple however stayed in his hand.

"Lassie Jr. is adorable! Gus didn't steer you wrong." Shawn said, and he kissed the real Lassie on the cheek. "You're my favourite Lassie though." Shawn said it as innocently as possible and he used the pineapple to make a crossing motion over his heart. Lassiter didn't know how to react. So he did something different, instead of reacting – he just started laughing. This whole being with Shawn thing? Yeah. He was definitely getting used to it. Pineapples and all.

**~End. **


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